President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Heartland Credit Union Arena, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, in Park City, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

By stephen Koranda

Kansas News Service

President Donald Trump landed in Kansas Monday to support the reelection bid of Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, further highlighting how Republicans believe they’re at risk of losing the seat in a deep-red state.

Trump spoke to the crowd near Wichita in a state he easily won by 16 points in 2024. He told the audience to “pretend” he’s on the ballot as they head to the polls in a race that pits Marshall against Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton.

“I love you, Kansas, but I’m here for a guy named Roger Marshall,” Trump said at the start of the speech.

In the next few minutes, multiple protesters attempted to interrupt the speech. Trump claimed they were paid and said voting will “get rid of idiots like that.”

“Marshall is in an unusually tight Senate race for Kansas, where voters haven’t elected a Democratic senator since 1932. However, polls show a very close race between Marshall and Democrat Adam Hamilton, and both sides are attracting outside money.

That big spending has translated to attack ads targeting both candidates, including ads focused on Marshall suing many of his patients and Hamilton’s handling of alleged abuse at a church camp. Marshall repeated those attacks on Hamilton before the crowd but also tried to simplify the race.

“What do Republicans do? We give you secure borders, a strong military and lower taxes. It’s that simple,” Marshall told the crowd before Trump spoke.

Marshall and Trump appeared briefly on stage together at the event.

Despite many polls showing Hamilton with a small lead, a Republican strategist told Politico they’re betting that the remaining undecided voters are Trump supporters.

Trump doubted the accuracy of the polls and tried to connect national Democrats to the protests rocking France. He said not clamping down on immigration caused the problems and voting for Democrats would cause a similar thing to happen in this country.

“Senator Roger Marshall and the great people of Kansas will not let them plunder our nation as well or demolish what our ancestors built with their own sweat, blood, tears and skill,” Trump said.

In the speech, Trump focused on the issues he’s hammering on the campaign trail. He blasted high-profile Democrats, especially Rep. Ilhan Omar and Michigan candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed, both Muslims. Trump made claims about children transitioning genders without the knowledge of their parents and took a hard line on immigration.

The president also repeated that Republicans keeping the House and Senate would allow him to offer $5,000 payments to Americans.

Trump went on the defense for Marshall, deflecting the attacks over his history of suing patients. Trump said Marshall was mandated by law to sue patients who owed money.

“They gave him a bum rap,” Trump said of the criticisms leveled against Marshall. “Roger, I have to tell it like it is. You got screwed with that stuff.”

The Hill and others have reported that there isn’t a law that required Marshall to sue patients.

The president also turned his aim on Hamilton, calling him a “lunatic” and repeating the themes of the attack ads in the race.

“He’s pretending to be a moderate,” Trump said.

Hamilton has been working to court voters with a more centrist message, welcoming Trump voters in a campaign video tied to the president’s visit.

“If you voted for the president, you also have a place in my campaign,” Hamilton said in the video. “I won’t answer to a party, and I won’t answer to any one person in Washington.”

He flirted with running as an independent, in part due to his goal of political unity. He’s changed party affiliations throughout his life.

“When the President does something good for Kansas, I’ll stand beside him and say so,” Hamilton said. “When a decision out of Washington hurts our farmers, our rural hospitals or our paycheck, I’ll stand up to Washington and say that too.”

The president’s visit attracted his fans and critics, with people lining up before dawn to get in and protesters gathering to oppose Trump’s policies.

Kevin Barnes and his sister traveled from Abilene to support Republicans in an election he called “the most important ever.”

“I think this is one election that we can’t afford to lose,” Barnes said. “And we can say anything we want to about Dr. Marshall’s competition, but he is a Democrat and he’s going to vote for socialism.”

Protesters like Rachel Bertapelle of Wichita said the stakes feel equally high for voters who disagree with Republican leadership.

“I’ve swallowed and tolerated a lot of the red policies that have been here (in Kansas) for a while,” Bertapelle said, “but I think I’m going to be voting Democrat this year … I’ll go blue this time if it does something.”

The president also weighed in on the race for Kansas governor later in his speech, appearing on stage with Republican Ty Masterson and attacking Democrat Cindy Holscher.

The visit comes shortly after a woman drove onto a soccer field in Wichita, killing an adult and a child, as well as injuring 10 others. Trump offered his sympathy to the community.

“We grieve for the beautiful lives that were lost and pray for those who were tragically injured. What a horrible event,” Trump said.

Marshall and Hamilton track records with Trump

A staunch supporter of the president, Marshall has been lockstep with Trump since the two of them took national office after they were elected in 2016.

In his time in the U.S. House, from 2016 to 2020, Marshall voted with Trump 98.3% of the time. In his time in the U.S. Senate, he’s been one of Trump’s closest Republican allies.

Marshall has repeatedly defended Trump’s tariffs and war in Iran, two issues which Kansans say are driving up their cost of living and driving them to vote for Hamilton.

Hamilton, on the other hand, wants to withdraw from Iran. He’s skeptical of Trump’s justifications, and advocates for diplomacy rather than a “forever war.” Hamilton would also aim to curb the majority of Trump’s tariffs.

But there are a few Kansas-centric issues where the two candidates have both disagreed with Trump.

Marshall altered his stance on actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, when they came to southwest Kansas. Agents targeted workers coming and going from meat processing plants. Marshall then urged ICE to coordinate with law enforcement.

The livestock industry said the actions caused a chilling effect on documented workers and disrupted a massive part of the state’s economy.

Hamilton’s response took the same sentiment a step further, and he posted “this is not how Washington should be treating Kansans.”

When Trump threatened to block Canadian manufacturer Bombardier from selling planes in the United States — a poke at the U.S.-Canada trade fire — Marshall and Hamilton promised to fight to keep the 1,200 plus Wichita Bombardier jobs.

This election season, Marshall also said he was “frustrated” with Trump’s plan to import beef from foreign countries.