President Donald Trump doubles down on bid to lift Roger Marshall’s campaign with Kansas rally

SALINA — President Donald Trump slotted Kansas into his final midterm campaign stop Sunday to make one more swing at salvaging the reelection campaign of U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall.

Trump brought Air Force One to the tarmac in Salina, a community of 46,000 people known for hosting the world’s largest frozen pizza plant, as a follow-up to his MAGA celebration in October at Park City. The president’s road show reboot in Kansas was designed to reinforce his support for Marshall, a Republican displaying unblemished loyalty to Trump. The senator’s reelection campaign also received in-person boosts from Vice President JD Vance, who also came to Kansas twice, and a roster of Trump administration officials dispatched to the heartland.

“Just two days from now, the people of Kansas are going to reelect Roger Marshall to the United States Senate,” Trump said. “I had to come here to make sure that Roger got it. One of the most respected people in Washington. I didn’t want to take a chance.”

The president said he managed 30 rallies in 32 days, and decided to wrap up his national tour in central Kansas.

Trump called off a Saturday rally in Salina after expressing confidence in Marshall’s reelection prospects, but decided to set up Sunday’s outdoor gathering after polling indicated Democrat Adam Hamilton held an advantage over Marshall.

Kansas voters have declined to elect a Democrat to the U.S. Senate for nearly a century. Marshall’s struggle might be puzzling to those aware of the overwhelming support Kansa voters have given to his predecessors. Republican U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts, Nancy Kassebaum and Jerry Moran won reelection campaigns in the double digits. In 2014, Roberts won by 10 points, his narrowest victory. Kassebaum won reelection by 47 and 54 points. Moran’s margin of victory never fell below 30 points.

An opening for Hamilton to enter elective politics was fashioned by Trump’s sagging approval rating and Marshall’s affinity for the president’s policies, programs and pronouncements. Hamilton, founder of a 24,000-member United Methodist church in the Kansas City metro, came along during a campaign cycle in which Kansas voters were anxious about the surging cost of living and angry about trade disruptions created by Trump that undercut farmers and ranchers.

The unexpectedly competitive U.S. Senate contest put Kansas on the national radar as Democrats sought to regain control of Congress from Republicans.

“I want to say a big thank you to everyone who’s been praying for us,” Marshall said. “I have a few people say, ‘Look, I’m just so mad. I’m mad at Washington. I’m just not going to vote.’ Your anger doesn’t count unless it’s at the ballot box. I believe its a God-given responsibility to vote. On Sundays we pray, but on Tuesday we vote.”

Marshall, who initially tied his campaign to advocacy for federal tax cuts, the immigration crackdown and investments in the military, told more than 2,000 people at the rally that Hamilton was too liberal for Kansans. The senator said Marshall mishandled a church camp abuse case in 2005, was in the pocket of Senate Democratic leaders and was fond of environmental reforms in the proposed Green New Deal.

He urged Republicans to persuade friends and relatives to cast a vote for him in Tuesday’s election because placing leadership of the U.S. Senate in the hands of Democrats would be a mistake.

“Your vote matters,” Marshall said. “Every vote matters. Don’t let anybody tell you it’s too small to count.”

Before Trump left the stage, he invited Marshall back on.

“This may be your last rally until your next reelection victory in a couple of years,” Marshall told the president.

In 2020, Marshall won his first campaign for U.S. Senate by 11.4 percentage points over Democrat Barbara Bollier. Trump, who carried Kansas in three presidential elections, carried the state in 2024 by 16.1 points.

Marshall, a former Great Bend physician, has been dogged by reports that his attorney filed lawsuits against 700 patients for unpaid bills, which resulted in the arrest of more than 80 Kansans. In response to attack ads crafted to help Hamilton, Marshall argued his debt-collection tactics were common practice and that he provided free healthcare to many patients during his career. In addition, opponents of Marshall emphasized the senator voted against release of U.S. Department of Justice documents tied to investigation of convicted child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

In contrast to large-format rallies favored by Trump, Hamilton worked Sunday to close out his campaign with a 20-city statewide tour based on the idea of bringing more civility and bipartisanship to national politics. While speaking this weekend to volunteers in Olathe and Kansas City, Kansas, Hamilton said voters wanted representatives in Washington, D.C., to focus on lowering consumer costs, ending the U.S. war in Iran, expanding healthcare access and rooting out government corruption.

“Our voice matters,” Hamilton said. “And now, with the election just around the corner, it’s important that we keep doing the work on the ground, talking to our neighbors, and showing up for each other to fix our broken politics.”

Marshall’s allies have accused Hamilton of improperly responding to allegations that a church volunteer groped children at a youth camp sponsored by the Church of the Resurrection. An investigation by church staff in 2005 was inconclusive, Hamilton said, but church officials shared information about the volunteer with police in 2006. Hamilton said he should have contacted authorities when the claims first surfaced.

Hamilton released a video asking for the support of Kansans who previously voted for Trump, arguing that Kansas needed a “senator for all Kansans, no matter their party.”

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who is nearing the end of her second term as governor, said in a video that Hamilton offered commonsense, bipartisan leadership. Kelly said Marshall’s decision to reside in Florida was contrary to what Kansans expect of their political leaders. She said Kansas needed a “frequent fighter in the U.S. Senate, not a frequent flyer to Florida.”

“I’m so proud to be a Kansan,” Kelly said. “I’ve loved living here for 40 years. Roger Marshall, on the other hand, loves living somewhere else. Ten days after become senator, Roger Marshall moved from Kansas into his million-dollar house in Florida, complete with his own boat dock. Then he fleeced taxpayers by having them pay for his flights to his new home.”