Kansas elections are getting national attention.
This week, NPR sent political reporter Stephen Fowler to the Sunflower State to follow some key races that are turning out much closer than expected.
One is the race for U.S. Senate featuring Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall and Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton. Once believed to be a shoo-in for Marshall, a Trump loyalist in traditionally deep-red Kansas, the race is getting close to toss-up status.
Fowler also spent some time on the first legs of the Kansas Republican Party's statewide bus tour with local officials and candidates, including Republican gubernatorial nominee Ty Masterson, who is leading in many polls. Kansas has a Republican supermajority in the state legislature and now hopes to flip the governor's office after two-term Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly.
During Fowler's visit, he sat down with KMUW news director Suzanne Perez to talk Kansas politics. Here's their conversation.
