Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since before World War II. But this year, this reliably Republican state has unexpectedly lurched toward the center of the battle for control of the Senate. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, a first-term Republican, is in such a competitive race that the top super PAC for Senate Republicans is diverting millions of dollars to the state.
With a month until Election Day, Mr. Marshall and his Democratic challenger, the Rev. Adam Hamilton, are roughly tied at 45 percent each, according to a New York Times/Siena University poll. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report still grades the race as leaning toward Republicans, but Democrats have become more optimistic.
Kansas’s farming-heavy economy has been hit hard in President Trump’s second term, with rising gas costs from the Iran war, a flood of ground beef imports squeezing cattle farmers, and a deepening drought. Mr. Hamilton, a strong fund-raiser from near Kansas City, is running on a centrist platform and has endorsements from two Republican former Kansas governors.
Mr. Marshall has struggled with lawsuits over patient bills and his alignment with Trump, who has grown deeply unpopular in Kansas. 55 percent of Kansas voters disapprove of the president, and half think Mr. Marshall would support Trump too much.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing