A century later, Kansas has a Democratic senator

Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton has just made history: he is the first candidate from his party to win a U.S. Senate seat in Kansas in nearly a century. With 51.3% of the vote, the Methodist preacher beat Republican Roger Marshall — a physician who had held the seat since 2020 — who received 45.7%.The contest between the two was one of the most unexpected of the midterm elections, but also one of the most emblematic. Kansas, in the heart of the country, is a rural, conservative-leaning state that has been changing in recent years because of increased domestic migration — especially of Latino people — and an economy trying to diversify in which the aerospace sector plays a significant role.Tariffs have hit that sector particularly hard: Bombardier, the Canadian aircraft manufacturer, has its U.S. headquarters in Wichita (in southern Kansas). The war with Iran pushed diesel prices up, a fuel essential for farmers, and raised the overall cost of living. High interest rates threaten the American dream for younger people by making mortgages more expensive and putting homeownership out of reach. Immigration policy complicates hiring foreign workers.With that backdrop, Democrats chose Hamilton as their candidate, whom, a Democratic strategist told political analysis firm The Cook Report, is considered “the party’s best pickup.” Certainly for Kansas, a state where the word “Democrat” still provokes deep suspicion. Hamilton is founder and senior pastor of the Church of the Resurrection, the largest Methodist congregation in the United States, author of about 30 books, and well known for his pastoral role.His slogan is “lead from the center,” and his positions are very moderate — though he supports the right to abortion, for example. His message, delivered in a measured voice, weaves the teachings of Jesus Christ with the Democratic agenda.A slow campaign and a scandalAt the same time, the Republican candidate, who in 2020 benefited from Donald Trump’s support and had little trouble winning the seat, was very slow to get his campaign underway. He did not have it fully up and running until October.By then he was already on the defensive in the polls. In September a scandal erupted that appears to have been decisive for Tuesday’s result: an investigation by The New York Times found that, during his time practicing as an obstetrician-gynecologist, his clinic sued nearly 700 patients — mostly low-income people in rural areas — for unpaid bills and applied 18% late fees to delinquent accounts. Eighty of those patients were arrested for failing to appear at court summonses.Marshall repeatedly denied the allegations and maintained he had nothing to do with those lawsuits. Trump, who traveled to Kansas twice to campaign for him, argued the lawsuits were a legal obligation imposed on the physician. Finally, in an advert recorded without his campaign’s knowledge and aired last weekend, the senator offered apologies nobody was asking for and acknowledged that the lawsuits against his patients did occur.Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition