National Republicans are spending heavily to protect a Republican incumbent in a state that hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century.
Polls show Sen. Roger Marshall (RKS) tied with Democrat Adam Hamilton, who leads the largest United Methodist congregation in the country, and the Washington Sun reported that the Senate Leadership Fund, a GOP-aligned super PAC, has put $14 million into Kansas and trimmed some of its ad buys in North Carolina, where the Democratic candidate has a commanding lead.
“They’re going to try and buy it because it’s their best available option, but it’s not what Marshall is lacking,” a Kansas Republican operative said. “He’s lacking a ground game and a good message.”
Most of Marshal's problems are his own, the operative added.
“Marshall’s a bad candidate running a bad campaign in a bad cycle, but he’s got a 10-point cushion to work with,” the GOP operative told the Sun. “He might use most or all of it, but he still wins.”
Some voters in rural central Kansas, where Hamilton drew standing-room-only crowds last week, said they’ve had enough. Ed Berger, a retired farmer who voted for Marshall in 2020, said he now backs Hamilton because the senator has been a “yes-man” for President Donald Trump.
The 81-year-old Berger, who called himself “Republican-leaning,” blamed Trump’s tariffs, the Iran war and rising fuel prices for putting the state in play.
“What’s happening here, you see it in a lot of races across the country right now,” Berger said.
A national GOP pollster called the race “a microcosm of all of Republicans’ problems nationally.” The pollster said the party is counting on money to solve its turnout problem.
“That’s why the infusion of cash here should, hopefully — and that’s the important word here, hopefully — do enough to mitigate the biggest problem Republicans face this cycle, which is turnout,” the pollster said.
A national Republican strategist sounded more frustrated – “It’s hard to believe we’re messing around in Kansas or South Carolina” – and Hamilton sees GOP spending as a sign of fear.
“If you are giving us $14 million in Kansas — in Kansas — that means you’re afraid,” Hamilton said, “and it means you’re recognizing that there are a lot of Republicans who might be voting for a Democrat in the state of Kansas, and that’s actually what’s happening.”
A second Kansas GOP operative said that “Roger Marshall has lost touch,” adding, “Marshall is not charismatic, and he’s had a slew of problems pop up.” Those problems include reports that he sued more than 700 patients and used taxpayer money for trips to Sarasota, Florida. Marshall has called claims that he lives in Florida “all lies.”
Kansas Republican Party executive director Rob Fillion brushed off the concerns.
“Republicans typically come home, and I think Republicans are hesitant to take polls,” he said.
Trump plans to hold a rally in Wichita next week.
A Marshall spokesperson said “Kansans have a clear choice” between “a senator who has fought for and delivered major wins for our farmers” and “a Chuck Schumer-funded Democrat.”