Democrat Adam Hamilton Defeats GOP Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas Upset

The Rev. Adam Hamilton has defeated Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas, NBC News projects, making him the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the reliably conservative state since 1932.

The result is a significant upset. President Donald Trump carried Kansas by 16 points in the 2024 election, and Hamilton's victory hands Democrats a major boost in their fight for control of the Senate majority.

Hamilton, 62, is a minister at the largest Methodist congregation in the country. He has never held public office and was registered as a Republican until earlier this year. Running as a moderate, he drew bipartisan backing, including endorsements from former GOP Govs. Bill Graves and Mike Hayden. He previously served on former President Barack Obama's faith advisory council and preached at Obama's 2013 inaugural prayer service.

Despite Kansas' long conservative history, the race became a key battleground in the campaign's final stretch. Amid growing backlash to Trump's handling of the economy, Republican outside groups were forced to divert millions of dollars to prop up Marshall, and Democratic groups answered with advertising of their own.

Hamilton and his allies attacked Marshall, 66, over the high prices that followed the Iran war and Trump's tariff agenda, as well as the health care cuts in the "big, beautiful bill" Republicans enacted last year. Rising diesel fuel and beef prices landed especially hard on Kansas' agricultural economy.

Democrats also noted that Marshall repeatedly voted against resolutions intended to halt the conflict until Congress authorized it. They pointed to remarks he made in April when, responding to rising gas prices, he said national security was "even more important than your pocketbook."

Marshall did not distance himself from Trump to the degree that Republicans in difficult races did ahead of the election, though in September he demanded that federal immigration agents work with local law enforcement.

Marshall, an obstetrician-gynecologist, also faced criticism in September after The New York Times reported that he sued hundreds of patients over unpaid bills, a legal campaign that resulted in dozens of arrest warrants for missed court dates. His lawyer said that while the senator set an interest rate of 18% on the bills, he had no involvement in the warrants or arrests. Marshall dismissed the report as a "hit job."

Before winning his first Senate term by 11 points in 2020, Marshall served two terms in the House. Kansas has not had a Democratic senator in nearly 90 years, though a Democrat, Laura Kelly, has served the last two terms as governor.