By Andrés Sánchez Braun
Salina, US, Nov 2 (EFE).- Kansas could elect a Democratic senator for the first time since 1932 in Tuesday’s US legislative elections, with the latest polls giving candidate Adam Hamilton a narrow lead over Republican incumbent Roger Marshall in a state long considered one of the country’s most reliable conservative strongholds.
The race is highlighting a broader sense of disillusionment among Republicans in Kansas, where President Donald Trump traveled to Salina on Sunday for his second campaign rally in the state in less than two weeks.
At both events, Trump made an emphatic appeal for votes for Marshall, an obstetrician-gynecologist who served two terms in the House of Representatives before winning election to the Senate in 2020.
Marshall’s popularity has declined in recent months, along with Trump’s and that of Republicans more broadly, amid rising living costs and the war with Iran.
For Nathaniel Birkhead, a political science professor at Kansas State University, dissatisfaction with Marshall stems from several sources.
“For some it is frustration over his vote against the release of the Epstein files. For others, it is the fact that he has wanted to associate himself with Trump, rather than showing a willingness to criticize the president,” he told EFE.
“Then there are trade wars and tariffs, which have hurt farmers badly, the war with Iran, and the rising cost of everything, especially fertilizer and diesel. When farmers in Kansas are not doing well, the whole economy is affected,” said Neal Allen, an associate professor of political science at Wichita State University.
Nearly $6 a gallon
Kenny, 37, who declined to give his last name, said he is now paying nearly $6 a gallon for diesel.
Sitting at a bar in Salina, five minutes from where Trump spoke on Sunday, he said the rising cost is hitting him hard as a truck driver in the agricultural sector.
“This is not the Trump I voted for. I voted for the Trump of 2016,” he said, rejecting US involvement in the war with Iran.
He also wants the files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to be released in full, saying this would help “clean up Congress.”
Kenny said he wanted to unseat Marshall, whom he accused of concealing the Epstein scandal, and would vote for Hamilton on Tuesday.
He admitted knowing little about the Democratic challenger beyond the fact that he is a Methodist pastor with a Republican past.
Don Haider-Markel, a political science professor at the University of Kansas, said Hamilton’s religious background could help him appeal to voters who might otherwise be reluctant to support a Democrat.
“As a pastor, Hamilton has well-founded Christian credentials, something many Democrats lack,” he said.
“His reputation as a moderate is long-standing and appeals to both independents and moderate Republicans” in Kansas, he added.
Lack of unity and too much antagonism
Across the street from the bar where Kenny was sitting, Catheryn Seaton pointed to the spot where her beauty salon once stood before she was forced to close it a few months ago.
She said the economy was struggling in Kansas but did not blame Republicans.
“We need unity, which is what made this country great. And in politics, I want someone who tells me what they stand for, not who they are against,” she said.
Seaton said she would vote for Marshall, reflecting a loyalty to the Republican Party that remains a defining feature of Kansas politics.
The state has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 and has done so only five times since 1900.
“Trump is also an idiot, but I would still vote for him if he ran again. At least he has been willing to try something different in politics,” she added.
Back at the bar, Kenny remained seated as campaign advertisements for Marshall and Hamilton played on the television.
Few patrons appeared to pay them any attention, and neither Trump’s visit nor the presence of Air Force One seemed to have stirred much enthusiasm.
When the NFL broadcast resumed, most turned their attention back to the football game.
At least there, it seemed, they could agree. EFE
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