JD Vance’s appearance in Kansas has underscored the growing uncertainty around the state’s Senate race, where Republican senator Marshall is facing Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton despite Kansas having delivered a 16-point victory for Donald Trump in 2024.
There is limited high-quality polling in the contest, but Kansas is emerging alongside Iowa, Ohio, Texas and Alaska as a state where Republicans could face a more difficult fight than expected in the midterm elections.
Vance’s Kansas appearance was part of a wider trip that also took him across the border to Missouri, where he highlighted the Trump administration’s efforts to punish people suspected of defrauding pandemic-era programmes.
Questions over Marshall’s record
Marshall, a first-term senator and obstetrician-gynaecologist, has come under scrutiny over his handling of unpaid medical bills. A report found that he had sued 700 patients over outstanding debts, with 81 of those patients arrested.
One former patient, Kellie Clutts, said she was sued in 2015 over a $129 bill for a postnatal visit. She said: “I had every intention to pay, I was just struggling.” Marshall eventually garnished her bank account, according to the account.
The issue featured prominently in a disorderly debate between Marshall and Hamilton at the Kansas State Fair. Facing jeers from the crowd, Marshall defended his debt-collection efforts as “common business practices”.
Republican seeks distance from Trump
Marshall has also recently taken steps to distinguish himself from the president, despite Trump’s strong performance in Kansas.
He urged the Agriculture Department to provide “targeted relief” for farmers and ranchers facing sharply higher diesel costs, implicitly acknowledging the pressure created by energy prices under the Trump administration.
After Trump threatened to block sales of jets made by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier unless they were produced in the United States, Marshall defended the company. He said it employed about 1,200 people in the Wichita area.
During a telephone town hall, Marshall also said he was as “frustrated as anybody” by the administration’s decision to lower tariffs on beef imports in an effort to reduce prices for consumers.
Kansas may not become one of the country’s leading Senate battlegrounds, but the contest suggests that even Republicans in reliably conservative states could face a more challenging path to re-election this year.
