The race between Republican Sen. Roger Marshall and his Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton is one of the closest races in the country right now. It has garnered significant national attention, especially in recent weeks, as one of the elections that could determine who controls the upper chamber of Congress.
Throughout the campaign, Hamilton has often referred to himself as an “independent-minded” Democrat.
“When anything goes to the extreme, I find myself bristling a bit,” Hamilton said on KCUR's Up To Date on Monday. “I understand why, you know, sometimes things go far to the left or far to the right, but I think where we really stand and where we find the greatest opportunity for change is standing somewhere in the middle.”
One of the key policy position of the Hamilton campaign has been opposition to the Trump administration's approach to international relations. Hamilton has argued against both the war in Iran and the economic impact of the widespread use of tariffs — both of which Marshall has supported.
“On Truth Social, the president announces a tariff at 2 in the morning, and when he announces those tariffs, he adds an insult to it. Like, ‘Bombardier makes terrible airplanes, crummy airplanes.’ Well, (Kansas is) the U.S. headquarters of Bombardier in Wichita. 1,500 jobs are dependent upon that,” Hamilton said.
“So, you insult your No. 2 trading partner, who we export $4 billion worth of goods to Canada. You insult them, you slap a tariff on them. They slap a reciprocal tariff, and then they start (thinking) maybe we need to do business with other people instead of America. This is just… this is bad.”
Hamilton, a pastor at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, has worn his faith on his sleeve during this campaign. But, while he says faith would guide him in his work if elected, Hamilton also believes strongly in the separation of church and state.
“I'm running for the United States Senate, not to be the chaplain of the Senate or the United Methodist Pastor of America. I'm really running because I think our constitution is under assault right now," Hamilton said.
KCUR’s Up To Date has reached out repeatedly to Roger Marshall’s campaign for an interview but has not heard back. That offer still stands.
- Pastor Adam Hamilton, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Kansas
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