About two weeks ago, Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas, a struggling Republican, approached his campaign’s top brass with an idea.
Mr. Marshall, an obstetrician up for re-election, wanted to film a commercial responding to all the attacks he was facing over his medical debts.
During his time as a full-time doctor, Mr. Marshall filed lawsuits against more than 700 patients, demanding payment of their debts, and at least 81 of them were arrested when the patients missed court dates, The New York Times reported in September. Others faced wage garnishment. Mr Marshall regularly charged an interest rate of 18 per cent on unpaid debts.
The dispute – and its consequences – has become a central subject of the campaign.
Mr. Marshall wanted to personally respond, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations before the election.
His top advisers said no. Such publicity was a bad idea in the run-up to the election, they argued, and Mr. Marshall needed to compare his record with that of Adam Hamilton, his Democratic rival, particularly on immigration.
That’s when Mr. Marshall went rogue.
The senator – unbeknownst to at least some of his top aides – arranged for his own camera crew to record and present such an ad.
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