Undaunted in Kansas

A pastor defends real Christian values as the Democratic Senate nominee.

The latest legacy media “take” — that Democrats are moving far left — defies reality. The party has always (but increasingly in the Trump era) established itself as the broadest pro-democracy coalition since the New Deal. One need look no further than red states to see that the party has made strides to embrace religious, rural, and center-right voters.

In Kansas, for example, a senior Methodist pastor who heads a 24,000-member megachurch in deep-red Kansas won the Democratic Senate nomination on Tuesday. Rev. Adam Hamilton will face incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), a MAGA foot soldier who has rubber-stamped every unfit nominee, approved every unpopular Donald Trump policy, and parroted every right-wing talking point. Marshall remains the prohibitive favorite to win his re-election in a state that has not had a Democratic senator since FDR was president. That said, Cook Political Report has moved the race from “solid” to “likely” Republican.

Hamilton’s candidacy, regardless of its odds, reaffirms the diverse leanings of the party and serves as an important reaffirmation that no party has a lock on God. “A band of white Democratic pastors have a striking message ahead of November’s US midterm elections: Republicans have hijacked Jesus for political gain, and we’re not going to stand for it,” Barron’s reported last month. “[T]hese ministers are so fed up with President Donald Trump, and particularly his policies against immigrants, that they’re running as Democrats in November to rein him in.” Hamilton, together with Texas Senate nominee James Talarico, are among the most prominent of these religious leaders pushing back against MAGA’s obnoxious claim that Democrats aren’t real Christians.

“The Christians we’re hearing in Washington don’t reflect the Jesus of the Gospels,” Hamilton told AFP. Like many other Americans (regardless of faith), he has been unnerved by the “crassness and mean-spiritedness” that is “inconsistent with the values that I’ve preached for 36 years.” He added, “I want to stand up and be heard saying: ‘This is not OK.’”

White Christian Nationalists who form the backbone of the MAGA movement are outraged that a pro-choice, professed progressive Christian would challenge their claim to theocratic dominance. Paul Raushenbush, CEO and president of the Interfaith Alliance, tells me, “It is painfully ironic that those who claim to care so much about ‘Christian values’ and a ‘Christian nation’ are getting bent out of shape when a pastor such as Rev. Adam Hamilton becomes the Democratic candidate for Senate in Kansas, alongside other moderate to progressive faith leaders running in other races across the country.” He adds, “It should be common knowledge that no single political party has a lock on religion. American history is full of people of faith being active in the political arena for both conservative and progressive causes.”

Raushenbush continued, “What is driving the Christian Nationalist movement nuts right now is that progressive faith leaders are claiming their proud tradition in America and running — and winning — on a moral vision for our inclusive, just, and diverse democracy that clearly attracts voters across partisan divides.”

Hamilton’s initial campaign announcement video made standard issue critiques about affordability and an unnecessary war, but also pitched his dedication to “serving people outside the walls of our church.”

He challenged fellow Kansans who would bring a meal to a neighbor or drive a friend to a doctor to care about federal food assistance and access to affordable healthcare. In other words, he argues that virtue in one’s private life should raise concerns about right-wing policies and politicians that inflict pain on communities and abuse vulnerable people.

Kansas may not be entirely out of reach in the current political environment. Kansas has had female, Democratic governors (e.g., Joan Finney, Kathleen Sebelius, or incumbent Laura Kelly), and just defeated overwhelmingly a MAGA-backed ballot proposal to amend the state constitution and subject state supreme court justices to direct election. “The move came after the Kansas Supreme Court dealt conservatives some setbacks in recent years, including a 2019 ruling that the state constitution protected the right to an abortion,” NBC News explained. “Voters sided with that decision three years later after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.” Opponents of the ballot gambit made clear that this was really an effort to come after abortion rights, which — even in an overwhelming Republican state — voters have staunchly supported. Hamilton’s pro-choice stance may therefore not be an insurmountable barrier for him. In setting out his position at the onset of the campaign, Hamilton said, “As a pastor for 38 years, I have cared for women and families facing difficult decisions around pregnancy. I acknowledge there is a moral tension surrounding the topic of abortion, but I do not believe that politicians should be making these decisions for women.”

Hamilton has no shortage of popular issues on his side, including his staunch opposition to tariffs, which have crashed soybean sales to China (from $12B in 2024 to practically zero in 2025) and sent Kansas’s economy into recession. Marshall is unmoved. As Greg Frazier, a former official at USDA and Office of the United States Trade Representative, recently wrote:

Instead of sticking up for their constituents, Marshall and [Rep. Tracey] Mann cheer meaningless trade announcements. Marshall said the president “found a way to break through and gain access” to the Australia beef market. In reality, that market has essentially been open for years. Mann recast a Trumpism: “This is the art of the deal.”

The art of the deal? That’s not what experts say: “US beef processors will be lucky to move $1-2 million worth of beef annually into Australia, compared to the $4 billion worth of beef Australia sent to the US last year.” Meanwhile, President Trump has said the US will begin buying beef from Argentina.

Hamilton’s mix of common-sense policy initiatives, genuine religious faith, and superb communication skills — matched with Trump’s lousy economic record and declining approval in the state (dropping a net 16 points since taking office in 2025) — have unnerved MAGA Republicans who must now spend money and justify their disastrous records. For Democrats and the broader pro-democracy coalition, Hamilton offers a unique opportunity to undermine Republicans’ fake piety, arrogance, and governing malpractice.

Hamilton’s undaunted, unbowed, and unqualified defense of his faith brings a much needed rebuke to a MAGA movement, whose actions suggest that Christian faith rests on cruelty, conspiracies, hate-mongering, racism, and misogyny. Win or lose, Hamilton deserves recognition and credit for taking the fight to authoritarian bullies.