Democrat Adam Hamilton has won the US Senate race in Kansas, defeating President Donald Trump-backed Republican incumbent Roger Marshall, according to media projections, to become the first Democrat elected to the chamber from the state in 94 years.
The victory marks a significant Democratic gain in a traditionally Republican state that Trump carried by more than 16 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.
The race had initially been considered a safe Republican seat but tightened in the final weeks of the campaign, drawing national attention and visits from Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who campaigned for Marshall.
Republicans entered Tuesday’s elections with a 53-47 majority in the Senate, while Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to take control of the chamber.
Hamilton, 62, is the pastor of the country’s largest United Methodist congregation. He built his campaign around affordability and bipartisanship, describing himself as an “independent-minded Democrat” while rejecting Republican attempts to portray him as far left.
During a campaign rally in the Wichita area on October 19, Trump announced that the US Department of Agriculture would introduce a “harvest fuel relief program” to provide farmers with $8 billion to offset diesel costs during the harvest season.
Hamilton, who has authored more than 30 books on Christianity and theology, also sought to win over farmers struggling with high diesel and fertiliser prices, which have been driven up partly by the war in Iran.
Marshall, an obstetrician before entering politics, was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2016 before winning a Senate seat in 2020.
His campaign faced criticism following a September report by The New York Times which said he had sued more than 700 patients over unpaid medical bills.
Responding to the report during an interview with Fox News in September, Marshall described the article as a “hit job” and maintained that he had followed standard debt collection practices.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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