Vice President JD Vance visited Kansas for the second time in the last two months to support Sen. Roger Marshall, part of a full-court press by high-profile Republicans to boost the senator’s reelection campaign.
Vance’s visit to Topeka, along with a speech last week near Wichita by President Donald Trump, point to a tight U.S. Senate race between Marshall and Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton.
As the rally was wrapping up, Trump announced another visit to Kansas in Salina on Saturday.
Vance focused on economic issues, touting Kansas candidates and urging voters to support Marshall.
“Because of Roger Marshall, we cut taxes on overtime. Because of Roger Marshall, we cut taxes on tips. And because of Roger Marshall, we cut taxes on Social Security,” Vance said.
Marshall and Vance both went on the attack against Hamilton, repeating claims that have been common in a race with attack ads from both sides filling streaming services and television broadcasts.
But Vance also took a different turn and attempted to focus on bread-and-butter economic issues.
“I want to speak mostly to the undecided voters. You'll hear a lot of people say that gas prices are too high. And I understand that. It is true,” Vance said.
Vance didn’t mention the war in Iran or issues with transporting oil through the Strait of Hormuz. He blamed environmental policies pushed by Democrats for limiting U.S. energy production and refining.
“Their policies are the reason that these Middle Eastern dictators ever controlled our lives in the first place, and Donald Trump and Roger Marshall are stopping it every single day,” Vance said.
Both Trump and Vance trekked to Kansas in an attempt to keep the U.S. Senate under GOP control. In a recent debate Marshall said, “Control of the Senate goes through Kansas.”
And Marshall repeated that familiar refrain from the campaign trail by trying to connect Hamilton to Democratic leaders he believes are unpopular in Kansas. He said electing Hamilton would lead to New York Democrat Chuck Schumer becoming leader of the Senate.
“His campaign is funded and bankrolled by Chuck Schumer. So he's going to owe Chuck Schumer big time. He'll owe him his soul,” Marshall said.
“What else would they give us? Open borders, weaker military and higher taxes,” Marshall added.
Hamilton has said he would not support Schumer for a leadership position if elected. And Hamilton called border policies under Biden a “disaster.”
Religious Attacks
Vance also went after Hamilton’s faith, a recent strategy of the Marshall campaign.
“I can't possibly know what is in the man's heart, but I do know the lawgiver in Adam Hamilton's world, it isn't Moses. It's not Jesus. It's Chuck Schumer,” Vance said.
Marshall also repeated attacks that Hamilton’s policies divided United Methodists and caused some churches to leave the denomination.
“He split the Methodist Church,” Marshall said. “Why? Because of his woke policies.”
Church members disagree, telling the Kansas News Service that Hamilton is influential but did not have an outsized impact on church policies. It was decided by hundreds of church delegates voting, and Hamilton was one of them.
Hamilton has previously called Vance’s attacks on his religious beliefs “really sad” and “pathetic.”
In a statement before Vance’s visit, Hamilton said he expected to hear attacks and invited Vance to visit his United Methodist congregation, the Church of the Resurrection.
“Our congregation is roughly equal parts Republicans, Democrats, and independents. We sit in the same pews and worship together every Sunday. Then we go out, and we serve our community,” Hamilton said.
Mid-term elections have historically yielded bad results for the President’s political party, especially in a second-term, but the GOP hopes this will change with some nudging by Vance and Trump.
It’s also the second Kansas manufacturing campaign trip for Vance. The VP visited Webco, an Olathe metal fabrication facility, last month.
Vance came to HME Inc., another metal fabrication business, Monday to tout the President’s effort to bring more manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.
Kansas News Service Managing Editor Stephen Koranda contributed to this report.
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