# Adam Hamilton Founding pastor of the **United Methodist Church of the Resurrection** in Leawood, Kansas, the largest United Methodist congregation in the United States, and the **Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Kansas** in 2026. He won the **August 4, 2026** primary from a field of eight or more candidates and faces incumbent Republican **[[Roger Marshall]]** in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932. ## The pastor Hamilton was born in 1964 and is a fifth-generation Kansan. He studied at Oral Roberts University and Southern Methodist University. At 25 his denomination assigned him to start a church for people who did not go to church; it first met in a funeral-home chapel. Over about 35 years he built it into a congregation of roughly **22,000 members across nine campuses**, with a 76-acre main campus in suburban Johnson County. He has written more than 30 books, including *Half Truths* (2016), *Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White* and *Unafraid*, and his video Sunday-school curricula are used in churches nationwide. He preached at the National Prayer Service for [[Barack Obama]]'s second inauguration in 2013. He calls himself "a liberal conservative and a conservative liberal" and says his congregation is a near-even mix of Republicans, Democrats and independents. ## The campaign He had never held office. He first weighed an independent run, the [[Dan Osborn]] model, and many Democrats argued it would split the anti-Marshall vote. His registration has moved between parties over the years: he went unaffiliated in February 2026 and re-registered as a Democrat when he announced in April. A primary rival said he was registered Republican for the 2020 primary. Positions on the record: - **Abortion.** He voted in 2022 against the Kansas constitutional amendment that would have opened the way to stricter limits or a ban, saying lawmakers should not act as moral authorities for women. - **Immigration.** After the federal enforcement surge in Minneapolis ([[Operation Metro Surge]]), he cited the Old Testament command to treat foreigners fairly. - **His own party.** He has called for new Democratic leadership in the Senate, a break from [[Chuck Schumer]]. ## The race goes live An Emerson College poll in September 2026 put Hamilton **two points ahead**, inside the margin of error, with 53% of Kansas voters disapproving of Trump. By early October he was polling even with or narrowly ahead of Marshall in a state Trump carried by 16 points. Cook moved the race to Toss Up on October 6. The lead is within the margin of error and should not be reported as a durable advantage. Two former Republican governors endorsed him over Marshall: - **[[Bill Graves]]** (governor 1995–2003), September 2026, in a video endorsement. - **[[Mike Hayden]]** (governor 1987–1991), **October 2, 2026**, in a *Wichita Eagle* op-ed grounded in tariff and diesel-price damage to Kansas farms rather than Trump's conduct. Both are economic rather than cultural defections, which makes them portable to other farm-state races. See [[Tariffs]]. ### Outside money (FEC Form 24 notices, early October 2026) | Committee | Direction | Amount | |---|---|---| | [[Senate Leadership Fund]] (SLF PAC) | Oppose Hamilton (first Kansas spending, Oct 3) | $545,775.68 | | [[AFP Action]] | Split between supporting Marshall and opposing Hamilton | $2,032,590.00 | | [[AB PAC]] | Support Hamilton | $414,131.94 | SLF's money was reallocated from North Carolina, the clearest sign the national party treats the seat as at risk. Details and filing numbers are on [[KS-Sen-2026]]. > [!info] He is a Democrat, not an independent > Earlier vault notes described Hamilton as a possible Osborn-style independent. That reflected pre-primary speculation. He ran and won as a Democrat. Corrected 2026-09-19. ## See Also - [[KS-Sen-2026]] · [[Roger Marshall]] · [[Bill Graves]] · [[Mike Hayden]] - [[Laura Kelly]] · [[Kris Kobach]]