Republican incumbent U.S. Kansas Senator Roger Marshall and Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton faced off Wednesday evening in their final scheduled debate before Election Day.
With less than two weeks left, what’s usually a sleepy, safe-for-Republicans Senate race in Kansas has taken center stage as the two candidates are neck-and-neck in polls.
Marshall promised to continue President Donald Trump’s agenda who — despite some polls showing lagging support for him in Kansas — gathered thousands of people to rally in support of Marshall Monday near Wichita.
Hamilton, a United Methodist pastor, promised Kansans an age-old framework — that he’d lead with a moderate approach, without allegiance to a party but with allegiance to the people of Kansas.
The Kansas race could help break or cement the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate. Considering that Democrats seem likely to retake the U.S. House, this race could determine Trump's level of power for the next two years.
National Republicans and Democrats are pouring tens of millions of dollars into this race. They’re hungry to win.
Wednesday’s debate showed that hunger.
“Control of the Senate goes through Kansas,” Marshall said.
The overarching theme
Marshall wants voters to associate Hamilton with national Democrats, specifically former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama — who he called “Barack Hussein Obama” — and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Marshall tied Hamilton to New York Democratic U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer in multiple answers.
“This guy is funded by Chuck Schumer,” Marshall said. “He’ll be beholden to Chuck Schumer forever.”
Hamilton has distanced himself from the national Democratic Party during his campaign. He has said he wouldn’t vote Schumer back into a leadership position, although a political action committee associated with Schumer dropped $5 million into the race.
Obama — who Hamilton delivered the sermon for at the 57th Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service for — didn’t campaign for Hamilton when he was in the area recently. Hamilton said he wouldn’t want Harris campaigning for him.
Hamilton also skewed to the middle on border policy.
“The Biden policies when it came to the border were a disaster,” Hamilton said. “I believe in strong and secure borders.”
That put him in partial agreement with Marshall, who repeatedly touted tight borders under the Trump administration.
“That’s what Republicans will always give you, secure borders,” Marshall said.
Marshall — through attack ads, the debate and with Trump on Monday — has attempted to paint Hamilton as a fake moderate.
Hamilton flirted with running as an independent, and has changed party affiliations throughout his life. His church, Church of the Resurrection, has advocated for “unity” and “kindness” during election season through campaign-like yard signs.
Marshall pleaded with Trump voters to vote for him, and promised to continue the “Trump agenda.”
Marshall is lockstep on most issues with Trump. While Kansans, especially farmers, are concerned over high fuel prices as a result of the Iran war, Marshall has defended them — along with Trump’s tariffs, which have also led to an increase in prices.
Trump has won Kansas with a double-digit margin since 2016. His nearly two hour Marshall campaign speech Monday drew more than 6,000 people near Wichita.
Hamilton said during the debate that there’s a place for Trump voters in his campaign and he said Marshall hasn’t done enough to sway President Trump on issues that matter to Kansans, like tariffs and fuel prices.
“I’m going to speak up for us,” Hamilton said. “(Marshall) says he speaks up for us, but the president doesn’t seem to listen to what he has to say.”
On the issues
On economic growth — which is top of mind for many voters — the big difference between Hamilton and Marshall is their stances on tariffs and the war in Iran.
Hamilton says the tariffs are too broad, and essentially functioned as an unpredictable tax on Kansans. He said that uncertainty makes planning difficult for businesses.
“This is creating instability, chaos and corruption," Hamilton said.
Marshall is steaming full speed ahead in his support of Trump’s tariffs. He said the tariffs are helping, not hurting.
“We are bringing these jobs back home,” Marshall said. “I was tired of seeing jobs leave America. China will be happy with my opponent.”
Hamilton has advocated for the United States to exit the war in Iran as soon as possible to lower fuel prices. While Marshall is also eager for the war to end, he backs Trump’s reasoning. He voted against the war powers resolution, which would’ve removed U.S. forces from the hostilities in Iran.
“I want this war to be over just as soon as possible, but we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Marshall said. “This is why we can’t have weak Adam Hamilton with the weak Democrat policy.”
“No one wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Hamilton responded. “But the president assured us last year we had taken care of (their nuclear) capabilities.”
Marshall said the “real problem” with the diesel prices is the green new deal and the Ukraine war. He defended Trump’s agreement to get diesel from Russia in the midst of the war.
“If this brings Russia to the bargaining table and it ends the war, then I’m all for it right now,” Marshall said.
“This is selling out our allies, the Ukrainians,” Hamilton said.
Another war they disagreed on was the Israel-Hamas war. They both agree that Israel needs to be protected, but Hamilton would vote to stop some weapons transfers to Israel that he said are being used on “innocent civilians.”
Marshall reiterated support for Israel, calling it one of America’s greatest allies.
“They are the only democracy in a very troubled, troubled area,” Marshall said.
The two agreed on one major provision for protecting Social Security, which is slated to run a deficit starting in 2032, necessitating benefit cuts. Right now, the taxes that fund the program only apply to the first $184,500 of a person’s income. Any income above that is exempt from Social Security taxes.
Hamilton said the cap should not be eliminated but should be lifted, because it doesn’t make sense for someone making $184,500 to pay the same amount of Social Security taxes as someone who makes $1 million.
“I think most people say that’s not right. We need to change that,” Hamilton said.
Marshall, in an interesting turn, took a position more in line with some Democrats, saying the cap should be removed. That would mean all income, with no limit, would be subject to Social Security taxes.
“I would eliminate the cap altogether,” Marshall said.
Neither candidate took a firm position on raising the Social Security retirement age.
On the issue of artificial intelligence regulation, Marshall said there needs to be a “light touch.”
“We cannot let China get ahead of our military,” Marshall said. “Demand full transparency, protect our children, protect our privacy.”
Hamilton said he doesn’t want to overregulate it — but he wants to ensure it won’t harm future generations. He said he’d like to work with AI experts to develop regulations and didn’t have any specific policies he’d push for.
“This is a potential existential threat to the human race,” Hamilton said. “We can’t just go with a light touch and hope everybody does their very best.”
Marshall, who worked as an OBGYN before entering office, has argued that Medicaid is broken. He said he watched doctors purposely avoid taking Medicaid patients — thereby giving them lower quality, harder to access care.
Both candidates agreed that Medicare for all — which is in general supported by progressive lawmakers — isn’t the answer to affordable healthcare.
Marshall said the Affordable Care Act wasn’t affordable, whereas Hamilton would want to expand ACA subsidies.
On transgender issues, both candidates said there are only two genders, but shied away from taking major action when it comes to transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. Both said that should be left up to local organizations like the Kansas State High School Activities Association.
The attack ads
Both candidates found ways to make personal digs at their opponent and repeat claims from attack ads inundating television and streaming services.
Marshall called Hamilton a “pedophile protector” in an attack ad, based on claims that Hamilton didn’t properly handle reports of sexual abuse at his church camp, and allowed the perpetrator to return. Moderator John Holt asked Hamilton to respond to the attacks.
“Ultimately, we helped get (the perpetrator) put behind bars,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton has said that after the initial report happened, in 2005, the church’s internal investigation was inconclusive because the boys could not identify the perpetrator. In 2006, the perpetrator returned to camp.
“I should have checked to make sure that he wasn’t going back,” Hamilton said. “That was a mistake on my part.”
When Holt asked Marshall about the attack ads focused on his lawsuits against former OBGYN patients for unpaid bills, Marshall said that “couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“We did everything possible to keep them from going to collections,” Marshall said. “Patient after patient we gave free care to.”
Will this debate actually change any voters’ minds?
In early October, 6% of Kansas voters surveyed in a New York Times/Siena poll didn’t know who they'd vote for in this race.
In the same poll, votes for either candidate were split evenly: 45% for Marshall, 45% for Hamilton.
Kansas has around 900,000 registered Republicans and around 500,000 registered Democrats. But there are more unaffiliated voters than Democrats. So to win, either candidate needs to pull the unaffiliated voters over to their side.
“Think of some voters having a running tally in their head,” Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University, told the Kansas News Service. “Debates can add or subtract a lot from their inner calculations.”
Early voting has started in Kansas. You can find advance voting locations on the Secretary of State’s website, and your Nov. 4 Election Day polling place (and what’ll be on your ballot) on the state’s VoterView.
Grace Hills reports on politics for the Kansas News Service.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KMUW, KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KRPS and High Plains Public Radio.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
