As US Senate race boils over, here’s some advice for Kansans from a swing state veteran

Greetings, fellow Kansan! You may feel disturbed and uncertain upon learning that our state has now entered that curious category known as swing.

No worries, though. I can help! As a journalist, I spent 14 years in two states that were classified as swing. I first worked in St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida, as the state wrestled with the fallout of the essentially tied 2000 presidential election. I then spent a decade in evenly divided New Hampshire, covering the 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 elections.

I found the experience riveting, educational, disconcerting — and occasionally annoying. Here are a handful of applicable lessons. Bear them in mind as you watch your 5 millionth anti-Roger Marshall or anti-Adam Hamilton ad.

Ads don’t intersect with reality — or Kansas

As you’ve probably figured out by now, many ads in tight races like the Marshall-Hamilton contest don’t come from the state where they run. They receive precious little input from the candidates they supposedly boost.

The overhyped messaging has been cooked up in Washington, D.C., laboratories where political consultants pore over focus group reports and ask AI models what Kansans respond to. Then they looked at the calendar and just decided to run as many ads featuring the word “pedophile” as possible.

At least that’s what I imagine. Seriously, forget the ads. They target folks who don’t read the news or know about the candidates.

National news outlets treat us like yokels

Believe me, I saw plenty of stereotyping while living among flannel-loving New Hampshire residents and beach-going Florida seniors. Reporters from Washington, D.C., and New York City love to treat residents of other states like butterflies pinned to a sheet of poster board.

“Ruby red.” “Rural” “Fly-over country.” These oversimplifications occasionally verge on outright falsehood.

But don’t look for national outlets to explain what’s really going on or add depth to their reporting. That might require spending more than a weekend in (ugh) Kansas. Reporters have another swing state to get to and another verging-on-viral story to tell.

Folks obsess over meaningless numbers

Fluctuating polls, early voting metrics, shifting demographics — all of these numbers will be sifted through and scrutinized in the days before the the Nov. 3 midterm election.

But as those outside the swing state bubble understand these numbers only go so far. Polls depend on whoever answers the phone or responds to a text. Early voting depends on whoever shows up — with most voters still casting their ballots on Election Day. Demographic trends flatten diverse individuals into a faceless mass of humanity.

Don’t get me wrong. As sports fans prove, everyone enjoys sorting through the numbers. Everyone enjoys making their little predictions. But does any of it mean anything? I mean, really?

The last couple of weeks become unbearable

In New Hampshire and Florida, the days before a big election transformed into a nonstop barrage of TV ads, breathless news coverage, glossy mailers and conversations best summarized as: I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I am hopeful/fearful.

The best advice I gained after 14 years of this cacophonous din? Tune it out. Ignore the final stretch as much as possible. It will play on your emotions with nonsensical drama. Your engagement or lack thereof will make absolutely no difference to the outcome (unless you’re a candidate or staffer, I suppose).

We will know the outcome soon enough. Then we can chew over actual facts.

It will be lovely when the madness ends

Either Marshall or Hamilton will be our U.S. senator. Either Cindy Holscher or Ty Masterson will be our governor. Up and down the ballot, some will win while others will lose.

Most importantly, Kansans will have made their choices. We will know the shape of the next two years of Kansas politics. We can all go back to doing whatever we were doing before.

Perhaps sipping on a ruby red beverage out in the rural areas of this lovely fly-over country.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. His first book, “Opinionated: Kansas Journalists Who Proved Why Commentary Matters — Then and Now,” was published in September 2026 by the University Press of Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.