Democrat Adam Hamilton won a seat in the U.S. Senate from Kansas on Tuesday, according to American media forecasts.
He defeated the Republican on duty, Roger Marshall, becoming the first democrat to win a race for the Senate in this conservative and mainly rural state since 1932.
This result is a blow to former President Donald Trump, who won in Kansas by a margin of more than 10 points in each of his three presidential campaigns.
Last week, he traveled to this state his first visit there since 2018 to seek support for Marshall.
Hamilton, a pastor of a large methodist church who was until recently registered as a Republican, had thought to run as an independent before entering the race as a Democrat.
He campaigned as a moderate politician, keeping distance from the party’s national leaders and pledging he would not support Chuck Schumer as majority leader in the Senate.
He also criticised the way the administration of former President Joe Biden addressed the immigration issue.
Hamilton focused his criticism mainly on Marshall and Republicans in Congress, not on the former president.
I am not running against former President Trump ‘%, he said during their recent debate.
On the other hand, Marshall told voters that support for it meant support for the former president’s agenda.
Both candidates also clashed over tariffs. Hamilton called for the removal of tariffs imposed by Trump and demanded that each new fee be approved by Congress, while Marshall insisted they were producing results.
Many farmers in Kansas who were already facing high fuel costs driven by war in Iran have been hit by revenge fees affecting exports such as soybeans and wheat. The buyers were angered by a Trump plan to ease tariffs on beef imports.
In the rural county of Nashoso, where two years ago 73 per cent of voters backed Trump, support boards were shown in recent weeks for Hamilton.
I think people just desperately need some normality, he said. AFP, Travis Falstad, 53, a left-minded voter in this district, ahead of the vote. /Telegraph/
