Vice President JD Vance renews call for Kansas GOP voters to back US Sen. Roger Marshall

Vice President JD Vance speaks to a crowd on Oct. 26, 2026, in Topeka, urging voters to reelect U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall. (Photo by Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — Vice President JD Vance returned to the state Monday for a second time since mid-September to rally voters on behalf of Republican Roger Marshall and try to prevent the first Kansas victory by a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate since the 1930s.

Vance’s visit to a steel fabrication business came days after President Donald Trump headlined an arena rally in Park City and six weeks since the vice president was in Olathe to deliver a shot of adrenaline for Marshall in the race against Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton, founder of the largest United Methodist congregation in the United States.

Despite Trump’s endorsement, Marshall has struggled to break away from Hamilton in a state the president carried three times and won by 16 percentage points in 2024. In 2020, with Trump on the ballot, Marshall won his first campaign for U.S. Senate by 11 points.

“Next week’s election, ladies and gentlemen, it’s not just red team versus blue team,” said Vance, who lauded Marshall’s leadership. “It’s about whether we stand for a fighter who’s always stood for the normal, everyday Americans who keep this country running.”

The vice president urged Kansas voters to reject Hamilton. He claimed the Democrat’s candidacy was given shape by Washington political gurus tied to U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York.

“Adam Hamilton says he’s a pastor and, I don’t know, I can’t possibly know what is in the man’s heart, but I do know the lawgiver in Adam Hamilton’s world. It isn’t Moses. It’s not Jesus. It’s Chuck Schumer,” Vance said. “Here’s the deal. If elected, Adam Hamilton would use our faith and your vote as Kansas senator to launder a political ideology that despises the way that Kansas lives. This man is a lab creation of Washington operatives and far-left activists who don’t know a thing about you or what you care about.”

From left: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall and U.S. Sen. Derek Schmidt attend a Topeka rally featuring Vice President JD Vance on Monday. (Photo by Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)

 

The vocal protesters

During the speech, Vance noted when a heckler was escorted out of the rally.

“The thing I’ve realized after having these rallies for the last couple of weeks is the only chance the Democrats have is to interrupt and shut down the debate, because when we have a free and open debate, the American people will realize that all the Democrats are selling is a fat load of bulls***,” Vance said.

A couple of minutes later, the vice president celebrated the exit of another vocal protester. He said that the “bulls*** artist, excuse my language for the kids. He’s out of here.”

The unexpectedly close race in Kansas emerged as Republicans battled Democrats for control the U.S. House and and U.S. Senate. MS NOW’s polling data partner FiftyPlusOne indicated the Kansas Senate contest was essentially a tie, with Hamilton at 45.9% and Marshall at 45.7%. The race has been pegged as a toss-up by other polling platforms, although advance voting in Kansas has been more robust among Democrats.

“Democrats are coming out like it’s a presidential year. Republicans, we’ve got to match that excitement, that enthusiasm,” Marshall told the Topeka crowd in a warm-up speech. “Send me back for one more term — for six more years. We sure can’t send back a woke radical liberal Democrat. That’s for sure.”

Marshall’s campaign has been hobbled by Trump’s declining approval ratings and voter anxiety about the economy, fuel costs, tariffs and the Iran war.

Marshall, a physician who practiced medicine for more than 20 years in Great Bend, has been dogged by reports that his attempt to collect unpaid medical debt led his attorney to file 700 lawsuits that resulted in the arrests of 80 people. The Kansas senator responded to negative news coverage with attacks on Hamilton’s character. He also doubled down on his dedication and allegiance to Trump and Vance.

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, waves to a line of people waiting to attend a rally on Oct. 26, 2026, in Topeka, where Vice President JD Vance campaigned for Marshall. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)

 

Vance’s attack

Vance said that with the assistance of lawmakers including Marshall the Trump administration had taken on the “tyranny of DEI and racial discrimination.”

He said “we happen to believe that no individual and no person can be truly free when their government or their employer cares more about so-called ‘white privilege’ than it does about promoting the American dream for everybody.”

During the speech, Vance said Hamilton was masquerading as a moderate and should be viewed as a component of  the “radical left” within the Democratic Party.

Drawing upon Hamilton’s archive of sermons, Vance claimed the pastor said Kansans ought to apologize for consuming meat. He was also critical of Hamilton’s congregation supporting a community LGBTQ pride festival.

The vice president echoed criticism shared by Marshall that the pastor didn’t do enough to circumvent misconduct by a church volunteer who abused children at a summer camp in Kansas. Hamilton said church staff conducted an inconclusive internal inquiry before turning information over to police a year later. During the Senate campaign, Hamilton said he should have contacted authorities immediately.

Marshall has had to respond to a barrage of campaign commercials that he voted in 2025 to table a bipartisan measure to compel the U.S. Department of Justice to release files related to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. At that time, Marshall said it was improper to link Epstein to a defense bill.

Before Vance arrived in Kansas, Hamilton issued a statement that said he appreciated how politicians in Washington, D.C., were taking an interest in the welfare of Kansans. Hamilton has presented himself as a centrist concerned about the escalating cost of living, fuel and healthcare, as well as U.S. tariffs and the war with Iran, to draw votes from moderate Republicans and swing-vote independents.

“Folks in Kansas have been getting hurt by policies out of Washington for too long,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton’s campaign invited the vice president to attend a service at Church of the Resurrection, the nation’s largest United Methodist congregation, to get a better sense of economic challenges faced by Kansans.

“Our congregation is roughly equal parts Republicans, Democrats and independents,” said Hamilton, founder of the 24,000-member church. “We sit in the same pews and worship together every Sunday. Then we go out and serve our community. I believe Washington could learn something from us.”

Vice President JD Vance made his second visit to Kansas this campaign cycle to rally support for U.S. Sen Roger Marshall. (Photo by Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)