The balance of power in the Senate will be decided by 35 races across the country in 2026. Republicans are seeking to maintain or expand their slim advantage while Democrats attempt to wrestle back control of the chamber for the last two years of Trump’s presidency.
Kansas’ junior Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall facing his first re-election bid, challenged by Democrat Adam Hamilton and Libertarian David Graham.
Here’s a look at the candidates in alphabetical order:
David Graham
Website: None
Incumbent?: No
Party: Libertarian
Political bio:
Graham, from Overland Park, has run for office in the past. He was the Libertarian Party’s 2022 candidate for Senate, taking on Sen. Jerry Moran.
Other information voters should know:
Graham does not appear to have an active campaign website or social media accounts.
The Libertarian Party of Kansas lists its priorities on the party’s website. “The Libertarian Party of Kansas is resolutely pro-individual and pro-community, holding that all decisions are best when made at the most local possible level. Our principles naturally lead to advancement of maximized individual liberties and local control, while limiting government expansion.”
Rev. Adam Hamilton
Website: https://adamhamilton.com/
Incumbent?: No
Party: Democrat
Political bio:
Hamilton has never held public office, but as the founding pastor of the nation’s largest United Methodist church, he built his reputation and national profile in large part through his willingness to discuss politically charged issues from the pulpit.
He spoke at President Barack Obama’s second inaugural prayer service. He invited abortion opponents and supporters to speak at a forum in 2022 before Kansas held the first statewide referendum on abortion access following the reversal of Roe v. Wade. And he championed the 2024 decision by the United Methodist Church to allow LGBTQ+ clergy.
Other information voters should know:
A fifth-generation Kansan, Hamilton founded Church of the Resurrection in Leawood in 1990. Hamilton joined the race this spring as a Democrat after openly entertaining the possibility of running as an independent. He’s branded himself as an “independent-minded Democrat.”
“For more than three decades, Adam has spent his life listening to people, caring for them, and bringing together Kansans who don’t always agree,” Hamilton’s campaign website says, adding that he chose to enter the political arena because he was distressed by “polarization and dysfunction pulling the country apart.”
He has identified affordability, healthcare and political civility as some of his top issues.
Dr. Roger Marshall
Website: https://kansansformarshall.com/
Incumbent?: Yes
Party: Republican
Political bio:
Marshall was first elected to Congress in 2016, when he was chosen to represent Kansas’ First Congressional District. After winning re-election in 2018, he opted to run for Senate in 2020, emerging victorious in a competitive Republican primary and defeating Barbara Bollier by more than 11 percentage points in the general election.
Other information voters should know:
Marshall’s re-election bid is endorsed by Trump, who Marshall has defended against criticism over the war in Iran and his aggressive tariff policy.
In the Senate, Marshall serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, the Budget Committee, the Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
Born in El Dorado, Marshall built his career before politics as an OB-GYN in Great Bend, where he delivered more than 5,000 babies, according to his campaign website. He served in the Army Reserve from 1984-1991.
Marshall has also aligned himself with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement, coming out as a vaccine skeptic and entertaining the scientifically dubious theory that Tylenol causes autism in children.
Marshall has championed Trump’s desired SAVE Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and faces an uphill battle on Capitol Hill. He has also pushed for a federal transparency mandate on healthcare procedures as a co-sponsor of the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act.