Kansas elects first Democratic senator in almost a century

Democrat Adam Hamilton has become the first member of his party to win a Kansas Senate seat in almost a century after beating incumbent Republican Roger Marshall, according to Associated Press news agency projections.

The race was considered consequential to control of the US Senate.

The highly competitive contest between Hamilton, a Methodist pastor, and Marshall stunned political observers given the state’s long history of Republican wins. A Democrat has not won a Senate seat in Kansas since 1932.

The founder of the largest United Methodist church in the country, Hamilton campaigned as a man of faith while pushing core Democratic positions on affordability. Like other rural states, Kansas has seen its agricultural and transportation industries hit by record-high diesel and fuel prices.

“We’re always told to not talk about politics or religion but this is one time we’re trying to save our democracy. The next two years are a pivotal time for our country,” Hamilton said on Monday.

Marshall is a staunch supporter of US President Donald Trump, who campaigned for the Republican candidate.

Marshall pushed Trump’s agenda during the campaign and pledged to expand rural healthcare, despite voting for Trump’s funding cuts, and to support agriculture. A physician, he has stirred controversy by supporting Trump’s Make America Healthy Again policies, which critics say undermine public health, and by opposing mask mandates during the pandemic.

Marshall’s campaign was also dogged by a New York Times report that he had sued about 700 of his former patients for medical debt during his years as a doctor, which Hamilton’s campaign used in attack ads.

The Associated Press reported that the $110m race was the most expensive in the state’s history.