Kansas Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate sharpen attack on GOP incumbent Roger Marshall
Three Democratic Party candidates for U.S. Senate in Kansas, counterclockwise from left, Anne Parelkar, Sandy Spidel Neumann and Christy Davis, appear Nov. 24, 2025, in an online forum hosted by Adam Orduna, a spokesperson for the Kansas Democratic Party. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from the Democratic Party's livestream)
TOPEKA — Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Christy Davis, Sandy Spidel Neumann and Anne Parelkar blamed Kansas GOP incumbent Roger Marshall for cost-of-living increases and promoted demands for affordable health care, better treatment of farmers, quality schools and a higher minimum wage.
The trio indicated during an online forum Monday night hosted by the Kansas Democratic Party the centerpiece of their 2026 campaigns would place responsibility for the country’s economic woes on Republicans, including Marshall. The Republican senator said he would seek reelection next year.
The Democratic candidates argued President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” supported by Marshall, exacerbated kitchen-table worries across the red state of Kansas that elected Marshall by 11.5 percentage points in 2020. Democrats said voters shouldn’t forget Trump signed the legislation in July with Marshall standing directly behind the president.
Parelkar, Spidel Neumann and Davis — Senate candidates Michael Soetaert and Chase LaPorte didn’t take part — reminded the audience Marshall walked out of an Oakley town hall in March rather than listen to criticism. Town-hall attendees were boisterously complaining about federal job cuts, especially those tied to veterans’ programs, that were part of Trump’s DOGE initiative with billionaire Elon Musk.
“I’m here to be everything Roger Marshall isn’t,” said Davis, a Cottonwood Falls resident and former rural development director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Kansans deserve a senator who will honor the Constitution, hold the executive branch to account and use the power of the purse to help everyday Kansans.”
‘Time we stand up’
Parelkar, an Overland Park immigration attorney, picked up the anti-Marshall thread: “He hides, he avoids and he performs on TV for ‘Daddy’ Trump’s approval. That’s not leadership. It’s fear of having to explain what he’s actually done to working families and the people who trusted him.”
She said Kansans scraping by day after day were frustrated with escalating costs, loss of health care and corporate consolidation of agriculture.
“It’s time we stand up and say, ‘We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore,'” Parelkar said.
Spidel Neumann, a former financial services executive who grew up in Overland Park, said she would represent all Kansans in the U.S. Senate. She asserted Marshall was “dodging constituents,” and that she wouldn’t be that kind of politician.
“I will go to every county, every city, talk to Kansans, find out what’s concerning them and work across the aisle to deliver,” she said. “From what I’ve seen, Marshall just parrots (Trump) administration talking points. He shows up on occasion for a photo op in Kansas, and then he touts policies, like the Big Beautiful Bill, that really harmed Kansans, be it seniors, children, veterans, farmers. I mean, who takes food from kids to give billionaires a tax break?”
Spidel Neumann said a person didn’t need her degree in economics to grasp the “chaos created by Marshall and the Republican-controlled government is hurting everyone.”
The Democratic candidates said they would consider an adjustment to the federal minimum wage, which has stood at $7.25 per hour since 2009.
“We’re losing workers to other states,” Spidel Neumann said. “From an economic perspective, it needs to go up. It needs to go up to a living wage, up to $15.”
Davis said it was unrealistic to expect a person to live off minimum wage because it amounted to $15,000 in annual salary. Housing costs in Kansas were too high and parents were struggling to afford child care, she said. It didn’t make sense for Trump, Marshall and other Republicans to work toward elimination of the U.S. Department of Education, she said.
“Right now the top 1% has more wealth than the entire middle class combined,” Parelkar said. “A full-time job no longer guarantees a middle-class lifestyle. The next generation has little, if any, hope of owning a home.”
Marshall’s agenda
A spokesperson for Marshall didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about remarks of the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate.
Last week, Marshall reintroduced a bill to expand a federal tax credit intended to help people with statistically higher barriers to employment. The credit would be extended to 2030 and could be relied on by employers to invest in training, wages and benefits for military spouses, veterans and recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Supplemental Security Income benefits.
“For hardworking Americans who’ve faced real obstacles entering the workforce and pursuing their American dream, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit has long been a vital lifeline,” Marshall said. “We’re giving more people a fair chance at meaningful work and the independence that comes with it.”
Marshall said the bill reflected his commitment to the U.S. working class. His advocacy for them included a measure providing tax relief on overtime wages, which was incorporated into the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Another piece of that bill set aside $50 billion to support rural hospitals nationwide, Marshall said.
He’s been a critic of the Affordable Care Act and of proposals by Democrats to extend tax credits relied on to hold down the cost of ACA premiums. The ACA tax credit expires at the end of the year, but Republican lawmakers in Washington plan to outline a health care bill in December, Marshall said.
“For 15 years, Obamacare has been the law of the land. This is an opportunity for Republicans to fix it and jump to solutions,” Marshall said.
He said the GOP bill should redirect to consumers about $150 billion the federal government was “giving insurance companies” under the ACA. He said legislation requiring hospitals and surgery centers to share with patients in advance the cost of procedures would help curtail expenditures.
“We think those two things alone will drive down the cost of premiums and the true cost of health care,” Marshall said.
Kansas’ health
During the forum, Parelkar alleged Marshall, who is a physician, was “violating his Hippocratic oath” as a doctor by endorsing federal policies that placed Kansas hospitals at greater threat of closure. She said about 30 hospitals in Kansas were at “imminent risk” of being shut down.
“Moms already can’t get maternity care out there and people are having to be helicoptered to urban centers for heart attacks,” she said. “If you survive that, well, how are you ever going to pay for that? Nursing homes are going to close and we’re going to see people end up on the streets.”
Parelkar recommended granting federal health coverage to all U.S. children from birth through age 18. She proposed the cost of the initiative could be covered by a repeal of tax breaks earmarked for wealthy people.
Spidel Neumann, the former business executive, said the government should extend tax credits linked to ACA premiums. If not, she said, families would certainly choose to go without health care. In addition, she said, the federal government should place caps on prescription drug prices.
Davis, the former USDA official in Kansas, said her sister, who was a physician, died while advocating for better health care access for patients. Meanwhile, Davis said, provisions of the ACA saved her own life.
“No one knows better than me that we’re in a crisis and we need to address health care. People can’t afford premiums and deductibles. We are short on health care providers, especially in rural Kansas,” she said.