SALINA — President Donald Trump entered Kansas in his final midterm campaign stop Sunday in another attempt to save U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall’s re-election campaign.
Trump brought Air Force One to the tarmac in Salina, a community of 46,000 known for being home to the world’s largest frozen pizza factory, as a follow-up to his MAGA celebration in October in Park City. The president’s resumption of the Kansas roadshow was aimed at bolstering his support for Marshall, a Republican displaying unwavering loyalty to Trump. The senator’s re-election campaign also received in-person support from Vice President JD Vance, who also came to Kansas twice, and a list of Trump administration officials sent to the heartland.
“In just two days, the people of Kansas will re-elect Roger Marshall to the United States Senate,” Trump said. “I had to come here to make sure Roger got it. One of the most respected people in Washington. I didn’t want to take a chance.”
The president said he held 30 rallies in 32 days and decided to end his national tour in central Kansas.
“I did it for one simple reason: to prevent communists and jihadists who hate America from taking over the American government,” he said. “The Democratic Party is dominated by the most extreme and dangerous radicals in American history. They openly promise to abolish your borders and let millions and millions of third world migrants ransack, rape and pillage your communities.”
“They want to steal your wealth and give it to fraudsters,” he added. “They want to raise your taxes by billions and billions of dollars. They want to defund your police, abolish oil and gas. Wipe out your savings. Bankrupt your families. Take away your guns.”
Trump canceled a rally Saturday in Salina after expressing confidence in Marshall’s re-election chances, but decided to hold an outdoor rally Sunday after polls indicated Democrat Adam Hamilton held an advantage over Marshall.
Kansas voters have refused to elect a Democrat to the U.S. Senate for nearly a century. Marshall’s fight might seem confusing to those who are aware of the overwhelming support Kansas voters gave his predecessors. Republican U.S. Senators Pat Roberts, Nancy Kassebaum and Jerry Moran won re-election campaigns by double digits. In 2014, Roberts won by 10 percentage points, his narrowest victory. Kassebaum was re-elected by 47 and 54 points. Moran’s margin of victory never fell below 30 points.
Trump’s declining approval rating and Marshall’s affinity for the president’s policies, programs, and statements allowed Hamilton to enter elective politics. Hamilton, founder of a 24,000-member United Methodist church in the Kansas City metro area, arrived during a campaign cycle in which Kansas voters were worried about the rising cost of living and angry about business disruptions created by Trump that hurt farmers and ranchers.
The surprisingly competitive U.S. Senate contest put Kansas on the national radar as Democrats sought to regain control of Congress from Republicans.
“I want to say a big thank you to everyone who prayed for us,” Marshall said. “Some people say, ‘Look, I’m so angry. I’m angry at Washington. I’m just not going to vote.’ Your anger only counts if it is in the ballot box. I believe that voting is a God-given responsibility. On Sunday we pray, but on Tuesday we vote.
Marshall, who initially tied his campaign to advocacy for federal tax cuts, immigration crackdowns and investment in the military, told more than 2,000 people at the rally that Hamilton was too liberal for Kansans. The senator also said Hamilton mishandled a church camp abuse case in 2005, was in the pocket of Senate Democratic leaders and was keen on environmental reforms under the proposed Green New Deal.
He urged Republicans to persuade their friends and loved ones to vote for him in Tuesday’s election because putting leadership of the U.S. Senate in the hands of Democrats would be a mistake.
“Your vote counts,” Marshall said. “Every vote counts. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s too small to count.”
Before Trump left the stage, he invited Marshall back.
“This could be your last rally until your next re-election in a few years,” Marshall told the president.
In 2020, Marshall won his first U.S. Senate campaign by 11.4 points over Democrat Barbara Bollier. Trump, who won Kansas in three presidential elections, carried the state in 2024 by 16.1 points.
Marshall, a former Great Bend doctor, was dogged by reports that his attorney had filed lawsuits against 700 patients for unpaid bills, resulting in the arrests of more than 80 Kansans. In response to attack ads designed to help Hamilton, Marshall argued that his debt collection tactics were standard practice and that he had provided free health care to many patients during his career. Additionally, Marshall’s opponents pointed out that the senator voted against the release of U.S. Justice Department documents related to the investigation of convicted child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Unlike the large-scale rallies favored by Trump, Hamilton worked Sunday to close out his campaign with a 20-city tour across the state based on the idea of bringing more civility and bipartisanship to national politics. Speaking this weekend to volunteers in Olathe and Kansas City, Kansas, Hamilton said voters want representatives in Washington, D.C., to focus on lowering costs for consumers, ending America’s war in Iran, expanding access to health care and rooting out government corruption.
“Our voice matters,” Hamilton said. “And now, with the election fast approaching, it’s important that we continue to work on the ground, talk to our neighbors, and support each other to fix our broken policies.” »
Marshall’s allies accused Hamilton of responding inappropriately to allegations that a church volunteer groped children at a youth camp sponsored by the Church of the Resurrection. An investigation by church staff in 2005 was inconclusive, Hamilton said, but church officials shared information about the volunteer with police in 2006. Hamilton said he should have contacted authorities when the allegations first surfaced.
Hamilton released a video asking for support from Kansans who previously voted for Trump, arguing that Kansas needed “a senator for all Kansans, regardless of party.”
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who is nearing the end of her second term as governor, said in a video that Hamilton provided bipartisan, common-sense leadership. Kelly said Marshall’s decision to reside in Florida was contrary to what Kansans expect from their political leaders. She said Kansas needs a “frequent fighter in the U.S. Senate, not a frequent flyer in Florida.”
“I’m so proud to be a Kansan,” Kelly said. “I’ve loved living here for 40 years. Roger Marshall, on the other hand, loves living elsewhere. Ten days after becoming a senator, Roger Marshall moved from Kansas to his million-dollar home in Florida, complete with its own dock. Then he bilked taxpayers out of paying for his plane tickets to his new home.”
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