I did not expect Kansas to become one of the more interesting Senate races we reviewed this year.
Republican Roger Marshall begins with the advantages of incumbency and of running in a state that has not elected a Democratic senator since 1932. But the Democratic nominee, Adam Hamilton, is not a conventional candidate.
Hamilton spent more than three decades leading the Church of the Resurrection, a large United Methodist congregation containing Republicans, Democrats and independents. His career has largely involved persuading people who disagree about difficult subjects to remain in conversation with one another.
Washington could use some of that.
What attracted us most, however, was not Hamilton’s biography. It was the contrast between his understanding of public office and Marshall’s record in the Senate.
Marshall voted to reject legitimate electoral votes after the 2020 election. He has supported President Trump’s broad use of tariffs, resisted congressional efforts to reclaim war powers, and repeatedly supported controversial presidential nominees even when other Republican senators were willing to vote no.
Hamilton, by contrast, argues that Congress should reclaim authority that has migrated to the executive branch. He opposes broad unilateral tariffs, favors secure borders while supporting legal immigration, and has developed a political style based more on persuasion than partisan warfare.
That does not mean we agree with him about everything.
We would like a much clearer account of the role Hamilton believes the United States should play in the world. Ukraine and NATO are part of that question, but the issue is broader: alliances, deterrence, military restraint and the degree to which America should remain engaged internationally.
We also think he needs to say more about deficits and entitlement reform. Some of his proposed tax credits strike us as bad policy, and his health-care approach differs from our own.
His religious background raised another question for us.
Clergy are no less entitled to public office than anyone else. But public officials govern people of every religion and of no religion. Religious doctrine cannot become governmental doctrine.
Hamilton has explicitly rejected Christian nationalism and defended separation of church and state. His own position on abortion is revealing: he speaks openly about the moral value he places on unborn life while also arguing that legislators should not become women’s spiritual advisers.
That strikes us as an important distinction.
A senator is entitled to bring his values into public life. He is not entitled to turn his church’s theology into civil law.
Hamilton appears to understand that.
He remains an underdog. Kansas is still Kansas. But recent polling suggests this is not merely a symbolic candidacy, and Hamilton appears capable of assembling the kind of coalition that has elected Democratic Governor Laura Kelly: Democrats, independents and enough moderate Republicans willing to cross party lines.
Endorsements are comparative judgments, not declarations of ideological agreement.
We have reservations about Adam Hamilton. But compared with Roger Marshall’s record, Hamilton offers greater independence, greater respect for democratic institutions and a political temperament that Washington badly needs.
That was enough for us.
The Centrist Independent Voter endorses Adam Hamilton for the United States Senate from Kansas.
Read our full endorsement of Adam Hamilton for U.S. Senate.
See all of Centrist Independent Voter’s 2026 U.S. Senate endorsements and races under review.
