Megachurch pastor rolls in state that hasn't elected a Democrat to Senate in nearly a CENTURY

By VICTORIA CHURCHILL, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 02:24, 5 August 2026 | Updated: 02:26, 5 August 2026 Adam Hamilton has won the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Kansas. Hamilton, a political outsider who works as a megachurch pastor and author, was selected as the nominee on Tuesday evening shortly after polls closed. GOP leaders are working to send incumbent Republican Roger Marshall back to the Senate from a state typically seen as a conservative stronghold, but currently has a Democrat in the governor's office. 1932 was the last time Democrats won a US Senate election in Kansas, but the state's current governor, Democrat Laura Kelly, won in 2018 and 2022. As results rolled in Tuesday night, over a quarter of Republicans came out to vote against Marshall, instead choosing to support his challenger Pond Naramore. The Reverend Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, speaks as US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr Jill Biden and Vice President Biden as they attend a prayer service at Washington National Cathedral on January 22, 2013 in Washington, DC