Roger Marshall keeps punching himself in the face. Kansans raise a bemused eyebrow.
U.S. Sen Roger Marshall pauses during the debate at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson on Sept. 12. (Photo by Jill Hummels for Kansas Reflector)
Visualize a clenched fist, fingers tight and knuckles braced, pulled back to strike.
Visualize that fist taking an unexpected turn, avoiding an opponent and instead circling back to slam into its owner’s face. I won’t describe the sights and sounds that follow, just know that the fighter for some unholy reason keeps clenching that fist and striking his own face, over and over and over.
Visualize U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall’s recent moves in his re-election campaign.
Fresh attacks on his Democratic rival. the Rev. Adam Hamilton of Leawood, misfired after a New York Post story turned out to rehash Kansas Reflector reporting from months ago about abuse at a church camp. Don’t believe me? Look here and here for our coverage from May and July.
The Post even cited our reporting four times in that single article! Marshall’s staffers — and their out-of-state financiers — planned a juicy smear campaign against their opponent. I understand. But reanimating allegations that were extensively covered by local news media sure smells like desperation.
That wasn’t the end of the embarrassment. A Marshall ad about the allegations had to be revised after including footage from other Kansas camps. Visuals showing Linwood’s Tall Oaks Camp and Conference Center, along with Lacygne’s Valley Cabins, illustrated the attack.
Whoops! A little slip-up there.
Actually not so little, given that actual Tall Oaks campers appeared in the ad. I’m sure they won’t face any scrutiny or humiliation after being used as political props. You could describe Marshall’s campaign in many ways after this episode — just don’t use the words “careful,” “attentive to detail,” or “grounded in reality.”
Finally, Marshall himself felt the need to inflict damage on his efforts to secure another six years in Washington, D.C.
In an “exclusive” with the Washington Examiner — the favorite news source of at least two or three Kansans — Marshall proclaimed that Hamilton ““lives in a bubble. Johnson County is one of the wealthiest counties in the country.”
Wait, did I read that correctly?
Roger Marshall decided to badmouth the most populous county in Kansas? I would hope someone in the campaign explains to Marshall that you need more voters to cast their ballots for you than your opponent to win elections. It’s a fairly fundamental fact!
I understand that the incumbent wants to underscore his rural roots, but surely you could do that without insulting a huge swath of Kansans. Also, what’s wrong with being rich? Wasn’t Marshall building his wealth when he sued more than 700 patients? I’m reliably informed by the good doctor’s fans on social media that he deserved payment for his work.
Don’t Johnson County doctors and lawyers and dentists deserve the same opportunities?
We’ve watched Marshall’s team follow this dismal playbook before. Back in May 2025, his chief of staff Brent Robertson ridiculed residents who showed up for a feisty town hall: “Real Kansans overwhelmingly support President Trump’s DOGE initiative, shrinking the size of the federal government, and firing career bureaucrats. Local Oakley citizens had no clue who these people were and were embarrassed by the behavior.”
Note that term: “real Kansans.” Marshall has followed the example of his employee and divided the people of this great state into the deserving and undeserving, the virtuous and the sinful, the rural and the urban.
Division didn’t work out for him 19 months ago. I’m not sure why he thinks it will now.
Roger Marshall just cant stop walloping himself in the face.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. His first book, “Opinionated: Kansas Journalists Who Proved Why Commentary Matters — Then and Now,” was published in September 2026 by the University Press of Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.