Voters in a deep-red area of central Kansas are hesitant to publicly back a MAGA candidate who has lived there for over three decades.
Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, a doctor and longtime resident of Great Bend, Kansas, is a sensitive topic among his neighbors, Kansas City Star columnist David Hudnall discovered on a visit to the city of 15,000.
Marshall is running against Democrat megachurch founder Adam Hamilton in a race that has shifted from being safely Republican to a toss-up, according to the Cook Political Report. Trump visited his state last week in a desperate attempt to save the must-win race in a state he won by 16 points in 2024. Republicans have won every Senate race in Kansas since 1932, but a YouGov survey completed this month found Hamilton leading by three points.
Hudnall traveled around Great Bend and its neighboring cities to find voters willing to discuss Marshall, who once opened a Surgical and Diagnostic Center there to compete with a nonprofit hospital. Many critics were willing to speak about how Marshall’s medical center interfered with the century-old hospital, which was forced to convert to an outpatient facility in 2011, but supporters were harder to find.
The friendliest voice for the sitting Senator came from Ellinwood Mayor Irlan Fullbright, who made a point of criticizing both candidates.
“Marshall left Great Bend with some baggage, and Hamilton left the Methodist Church with a lot of baggage,” Fullbright said. “So between the two, it’s kind of, flip a coin.”
The rest of his constituents interviewed for the piece either stayed mum or outright condemned Marshall. Even John Francis and Kip Spray, local friends of Marshall’s who recently arranged a fundraiser for him, refused to speak to Hudnall about the candidate.
Craig Neeland, a retired Farmers Bank and Trust banker, said that while he voted for Marshall in 2016 and 2020, he could no longer support the candidate because “he gives Trump free rein every time.”
Even Marshall’s own state representative, a Republican, refused to go on record about her politician constituent. Instead, Kansas Rep. Tory Blew said she had heard that some Great Bend residents simply skipped over Marshall on the ballot.
When Hudnall asked about his predicament, she responded: “I’m just going to smile really big instead of responding to that question.”
Marshall’s association with Trump was not the only thing that left a bad taste in voters’ mouths.
The New York Times found that Marshall sued over 700 of his patients over medical debts during his career as an OB-GYN, which led to arrests and legal debts. In one case, a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy was arrested in front of her 2-year-old daughter.
Many in the city also debate whether Marshall is a legitimate resident of Great Bend. Mayor Alan Moeder said it was “quite obvious” that he no longer lived in Great Bend.
“He lives in Florida. He has a little hunting lodge south of Great Bend in Stafford County,” Moeder told Hudnall. “And I think that’s an issue for people, from what I hear. He’s become disconnected with a lot of people around here.”
Even some MAGA diehards have their doubts.
Ty Breeden, a banker and president of the Kansas Livestock Association, said he still supported Trump, despite rising diesel and fertilizer prices. But when he was asked about Marshall, he changed his tune.
“I’m not sure I want to answer that question,” Breeden said.
