Adam Hamilton becomes the first Democratic senator from Kansas in nearly 100 years

Democrat Adam Hamilton has defeated Republican Senator Roger Marshall in Kansas, according to NPR’s reporting, becoming the first Democrat elected to the US Senate from the state since 1932.

Hamilton, pastor of the country’s largest United Methodist church, ran as a moderate and said he would listen to people on both sides of the political divide. He called for term limits, criticised national Democrats and won endorsements from prominent Kansas Republicans, including a former governor.

Kansas backed Donald Trump by double-digit margins in every presidential election from 2016 onward. Over the same period, however, voters elected and then re-elected a moderate Democratic governor. Marshall won his Senate seat in 2020 by more than 11 percentage points, despite expectations of a closer race.

This year’s contest became the most expensive election in Kansas history, with Hamilton breaking several fundraising records. He considered running as an independent but ultimately entered the race as an “independent-minded Democrat”. Some supporters had worried that an independent bid would split the vote with the Democratic nominee and help Marshall win another term.

Andi Welch, a Johnson County voter who said she does not always vote for Democrats, backed Hamilton on Election Day. “I think he’s going to be fair,” she said. “I think he’s running as a Democrat for the reasons he states, and I think he really is going to be looking out for Kansas citizens.”

Both campaigns ran attack ads. The New York Times reported that Marshall, who worked as an obstetrician-gynaecologist before his election to the US House in 2016, had sued more than 700 former patients over medical debt. Hamilton’s campaign featured one of those patients in an ad. Five days before Election Day, the former patient sued Marshall, alleging that he had charged a predatory interest rate.

Marshall’s campaign ran an ad accusing Hamilton of protecting a church camp volunteer who reportedly attempted to abuse boys at one of Hamilton’s church camps. The volunteer returned the following year, when a second report was made.

Court records show the church’s initial investigation was inconclusive. Hamilton said during a debate that he had not been involved in the decision to let the volunteer return. Church leaders contacted authorities after the second report, but Hamilton said police should have been called after the first.