Kansas City Today

A new challenger shakes up the Kansas U.S. Senate race

By Brian Ellison,

Published May 4, 2026 at 4:00 AM CDT

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Pastor Adam Hamilton, of Leawood, went on a tour of Kansas the last couple of months to explore running for the U.S. Senate. Now, he's officially in — as a Democrat. We'll discuss how Hamilton's entrance has injected energy and controversy into the race to unseat Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.

So why is this preacher with no elected experience getting so much attention? KCUR's Brian Ellison talked with Kansas Reflector reporter Anna Kaminski about Hamilton and his impact on the race.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Brian Ellison. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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Brian Ellison

As a host and senior news analyst at KCUR, I seek to create a more informed citizenry and richer community. I want to enlighten and inspire our audience by delivering the information they need with accuracy and urgency, clarifying what’s complicated and teasing out the complexities of what seems simple. I work to craft conversations that reveal realities in our midst and model civil discourse in a divided world. Follow me on socials @ptsbrian or email me at brian@kcur.org.

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Byron J. Love

As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.

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