Topeka voters cite housing, jobs and rural water concerns
At the Friday Topeka business forum, Hamilton was working to convince a politically mixed crowd to take a chance on a Democrat as he challenged Marshall. The Guardian described the Senate contest as too close to call and said some recent polls put Hamilton on course for a historic victory. Hamilton is trying to win over independents and Republicans and generally calls himself an independent-minded Democrat.
Last week, Hamilton told the business leaders it would be valuable for Kansas to have a Democrat like him and a Republican in Jerry Moran representing them in the U.S. Senate — “working both sides of the aisle,” The Guardian reported.
Republicans were scrambling to retain their dominance two years after Donald Trump won Kansas by 16 points while seeking to regain the White House, The Guardian reported. The battle is for one of the state’s two Senate seats, with Moran holding the other. A Hamilton victory would produce Kansas’s first Democratic U.S. senator since 1932.
The Guardian described Hamilton as the senior pastor of the country’s largest United Methodist congregation and said the position brought name recognition and speaking skills. A photo caption records him greeting an attendee in Lenaxa, Kansas, earlier this month. At the Topeka forum, Hamilton said he decided to run for office after seeing the Trump administration act in ways that were “not good or kind or compassionate or humble.” The Guardian described his delivery as having “the energetic cadence of the pastor he is.” Hamilton said he was waiting for Marshall to stand up for Kansas and its people.
Hamilton joked, “I would have arguments with Roger Marshall in the shower. He was not in the shower with me,” and then said, “And I would just say, Roger, please stand up for your people. You were not hired to be a spokesperson for the White House. You were hired to fight for your people.” The Guardian reported that Marshall had sued hundreds of his patients over unpaid bills, resulting in arrests of dozens of them. According to the newspaper, those suits had “contributed greatly to Hamilton’s prospects of flipping the seat.”
At the forum, Hamilton said he did not think Marshall had done a good job listening to the people. Hamilton noted that the last time Marshall held an open town hall was about 600 days ago, when Marshall left after facing pointed questions. Marshall has said the town halls became “non-productive and dangerous,” The Guardian reported.
Hamilton readily and frequently shares stories of Kansans he has met on the campaign trail. The Guardian reported meeting a woman whose health-insurance premiums cost as much as her mortgage, causing her to drop coverage, and a farmer who cried while discussing the state of the industry for young farmers. A separate photo caption says, “Hamilton says Trump’s policies are hurting rural Americans.”
Hamilton regularly points to one of Kansas’s most famous residents, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Recalling a visit to Liberal, Kansas, and its Oz museum, he asks audiences what Dorothy’s companions needed during her journey: the lion needed courage, the scarecrow a brain and the tin man a heart. Hamilton says Washington needs more of all three and that he can provide them.
In a video welcoming Trump to Kansas, Hamilton said he hoped the president would hear from people struggling throughout Kansas with rising costs and uncertainty. He also told Kansans they all had a place in his campaign regardless of who they voted for or their party affiliation. “I’m running to be a champion for the people of Kansas: Republicans, Democrats and independents. I won’t answer to a party, and I won’t answer to any one person in Washington,” he said in the video. “I answer to you.”
Several people who attended Hamilton’s Friday forum had attended a similar Marshall forum earlier in the day, The Guardian reported. Before and after the event, Hamilton circulated through a crowd of a few dozen voters, shaking hands and taking photographs. Voters told the newspaper they appreciated his accessibility, though some wanted more specific answers.
Brennen Ross, a 20-year-old political science and economics student at Washburn University in Topeka, watched Marshall earlier in the day before seeing Hamilton. Ross called the national attention on Kansas “super interesting” for a state often best known for its sports teams. The unaffiliated voter was leaning toward Hamilton and cited housing costs, the job market for people his age and water availability in rural Kansas. His first concern was Hamilton’s effort to “turn the heat down” amid rising political polarization. “That’s really compelling, and it resonates with a lot of Kansans, especially like a lot of younger Kansans that I speak to on this election,” Ross said.
Jacinta Bergkamp, a 30-year-old Democrat with the young professional group Forge Young Talent, asked both Hamilton and Marshall about housing affordability at their events. Bergkamp said affordability looms large for young people, while women’s rights and access to abortion also matter to her vote. Wearing a shirt that read “Vote Dammit,” she said she found the growing Democratic interest in Kansas “encouraging.” She also said Kansans appeared “fed up” with what they were experiencing, with more people willing to speak against their representatives and hold them accountable. Bergkamp said, “Usually it feels a little, I guess, lonely” to be a Democrat in Kansas. “We always kind of think of Kansas as being purple. Kansas isn’t red or blue … It’s very clear that Kansas is more liberal than what people think outside of Kansas.”
Linda Murphy Maina, who owns the Topeka boutique Linda’s Afrikan Kreations, said she looks for candidates who are good for the people and can serve the community. Maina wanted more direct answers on some questions but said Hamilton focused on working together and helping people. “I’m still doing a little research, but he tickled my fancy,” she said.
Susana Ortiz, a counselor with a private practice in Topeka, said her background in mental health leads her to look for candidates who would be best for her clients. Ortiz does not expect candidates to have all the answers, but she said they need to show they care about people and are willing to accept public feedback about their decisions. She remained undecided. “More and more people, it seems, are expressing frustration with the rising cost of living,” Ortiz said. “And so they’re looking for solutions, and I think that allows people to be a little more open-minded to perhaps voting across party lines.”
Hamilton told the crowd he did not have many superpowers: he could not sing, was bad at golf and had been a “horrible football player.” His superpower, he said, was that he listened and cared and had a “propensity to fight for people.” “I’m gonna just fight like hell for the people in Kansas,” he said.