An Honest Conversation About Defeating Roger Marshall

Kansas has not elected a democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932. This race is a tough uphill battle that requires a pragmatic approach.

We need Adam Hamilton to win the democratic primary for US Senate.

I know some within this Six Degrees of Activism community may be all in for Hamilton while some may prefer one of the other democratic candidates. We can debate the merits of his credentials and viewpoints as compared to other candidates in the race. But, that is not what this post is about.

This post is about the reality we find ourselves in and to explain why I (and others) believe Adam Hamilton is the only candidate who can realistically beat Roger Marshall within the confines of our current political system, and the fact that he will most certainly be a better Senator for Kansas than Roger Marshall.

I think I can speak for most everyone in this community when I say that we all share the goal of ending Roger Marshall’s senate career. From the start of his time in office when he was one of just 8 senators who voted to overturn the 2020 election, Sen. Marshall has proven to be problematic every step of the way.

That is the goal I am focused on when I say that Adam Hamilton is our only realistic chance of defeating Roger Marshall in 2026.

Whether we like it or not, until we can overturn Citizens United…

To explain, let me share the history of our most recent Senate races.

Barbara Bollier versus Roger Marshall (2020)

By all accounts, Kansas state senator Dr. Barbara Bollier ran an excellent campaign that energized folks across Kansas and across the nation. Kansas appeared to be in play for the first time in years after Senator Pat Roberts decided not to run for reelection.

• Barbara Bollier raised $3.5 million dollars by the first quarter of 2020, after five months of campaigning.

• She raised $7 million by the end of the second quarter after 8 months of campaigning.

Big and small donors took notice. This race looked like a good investment. The truth of the matter is, money begets more money.

By the end of the campaign, Bollier had raised $29 million.

Yet, with all of that money, momentum, and the statewide and national recognition Bollier gained, it was not enough to overcome the hurdle of a democratic winning a Senate race in Kansas, especially in a presidential year with Trump on the ballot in a state that he won by double digits.

It was a crushing blow to many of us, and to Barbara Bollier most of all.

Mark Holland versus Jerry Moran (2022)

Mark Holland was another good candidate who had an excellent team and campaigned diligently across the state, but he never pulled in the money that Bollier did. By the end of his campaign he had raised just shy of $1 million. He didn’t have those early fundraising dollars to demonstrate that he could compete and that his campaign was a good investment. It was going to take even more to beat Moran.

Not surprisingly, considering the lack of campaign funds, he was unable to compete against Moran and lost the race.

We have some fantastic candidates who have stepped up to run against Roger Marshall and who have committed a lot of time and effort over a number of months to introduce themselves to Kansas voters. Nothing about this post is meant to discount their work or worthiness to represent us in the U.S. Senate. But there are some realities we need to consider.

Here’s a fundraising snapshot from the last filing deadline at the end of June.

Some of these candidates have been in the race as long as Barbara Bollier was at this point, yet they’ve raised nothing close to her $7M. And Barbara entered the month of July with $4M in cash on hand. The most any other democratic candidate has is $75K in cash on hand.

These candidates aren’t pulling in the millions needed to be considered a “good investment” and a true contender in a very expensive national level race. There is no money to beget more money.

Hamilton’s campaign raised $3.6 million in 62 days. Those are the kind of numbers (in an incredibly short time frame) that demonstrate to those with deep pockets that he is a contender and a good investment.

Hamilton’s team also reported that he has received donations from 16,336 individual donors in 93 out of the 105 counties in Kansas, as compared to Marshall receiving donations from just 27 Kansans. This also demonstrates that he is a good investment and will unlock more pocket books if he wins the primary.

Though there are a number of candidates in the rest of the field who would represent us well in D.C., they will more than likely suffer the fate of Mark Holland and be unable to raise the funds necessary to compete in this race. And we will be stuck with Senator Roger Marshall again.

With no presidential race on this year’s ballot and no Trump, this is the year for us to put forth a candidate that can be a true contender.

Roger Marshall has raised $6.1 million and has $5.3 million on hand.

Between the money Hamilton can raise and the public profile he already has, Hamilton appears to be the only candidate with a real shot at competing against Marshall. For this reason, Hamilton will be the recommended candidate on our soon to be published Voter Guide with Recommended Candidates.

To learn more about Hamilton, visit his website and social media accounts. This post on Facebook shows where he stands on a number of issues.

Regardless of whether he is perfect on every issue you may care about, consider the information presented above and the fact that in politics we do often need to think of it like a game of chess.

Follow @6degreesofactivism on Instagram.