Kansas Democrat Adam Hamilton's Senate bid tests state's 94-year drought for his party
Photo: The Guardian USDemocrat Adam Hamilton, a pastor, is running for one of Kansas's two US Senate seats against Republican incumbent Roger Marshall, in a race described as too close to call. Kansas has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, a gap of 94 years. Some recent polls put Hamilton on course for a historic win, even though Donald Trump carried Kansas by 16 points two years ago. Hamilton told business leaders in Topeka on Friday that he decided to run after seeing the Trump administration act in ways he called not good, kind, compassionate or humble. He said he had waited for Marshall to stand up for the state. In a January 2025 sermon to his congregation, Hamilton read descriptions of four Biden-era executive orders on gender identity and LGBTQ protections, saying losing those protections was painful for LGBTQ people.
The alternative source, Reuters, frames the race as a question: after 94 years, will Kansas send a Democrat to the Senate? Only that headline is available, and the excerpt shown covers an unrelated housing story. Left-leaning coverage, from The Guardian US, leads with the possibility of an upset, citing polls, the Trump margin and Hamilton's Wizard of Oz stump theme, and quotes him on Marshall and the Trump administration. Right-leaning coverage, from Breitbart, centers on his January 2025 sermon about the reversal of Biden's transgender-related orders, quoting his remarks on tears and brokenness. The sides agree on his Democratic nomination and his pastoral background, but they feature different aspects of his record.
How the sides differ Left sources stress Hamilton's campaign message and competitive polling; right sources focus on his past sermon about Biden-era transgender orders; alternative sources pose the historic question.
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The Guardian US leads with the chance of a historic upset, citing close polling and the 1932 gap, and features Hamilton's own campaign pitch and jokes about Marshall.
Reuters poses the historic question of whether Kansas will elect a Democrat after 94 years; the excerpt provided contains no detail on the race itself.
Breitbart focuses on Hamilton's January 2025 sermon, in which he read Biden-era gender identity orders and described the pain of LGBTQ people over losing protections.