Coming up on KTWU is a 2026 IGI Election Special, where our all star panel dives into the major campaigns in Kansas for the November 3rd election.

Stay with us.

This program on KTWU is brought to you by the Carol Jory Foundation.

Hello, and welcome to a 2026 IGI Election Special.

I'm your host, Bob Beatty.

Well, let's be honest, we thought this would happen like almost every election in Kansas.

It's the talk of the nation with competitive races for Kansas governor, Kansas Attorney General, and the race that has captured the nation.

The U.S.

Senate election between incumbent Republican Roger Marshall and Democrat Adam Hamilton.

As Bill Clinton & Well, and Mike Huckabee often say it's tight as a tick.

So we brought in our all star panel of Kansas political experts -Tim Carpenter from the Kansas Reflector, Rebecca Chung from KSNT news, and Bill finder from Washburn University.

They will focus their keen eyes on these races and the TV ads that we'll be seeing nonstop before Election Day.

So let's get to it.

Yeah, we're very excited to have our all star cast here, and I'm really excited for this show because Kansas often features interesting elections, but you never know what you're going to get.

And, one thing I did not see coming a year ago was a pastor from northeast Kansas who I'd never heard of.

Frankly, I'm not from Kansas City, named Adam Hamilton.

Parachuting into the Democratic primary for U.S.

Senate.

But we've got a couple of other races.

So let's dive right into the Senate now.

The background is in, which is why we're talking about this nationally, is that Kansas has not had a Democratic senator win since 1932.

His name was George McGill.

And, it it's going on close to 100 years now.

There's there's George now.

Not now, there's George.

We're seeing him now.

One of the reasons maybe he was not reelected was the suit.

I don't know, but, this race is really, really wild.

But I didn't really quickly.

Why will Kansans vote for a Democratic governor, even attorney General Paul Morrison, but for almost 100 years, adamantly not vote for a U.S.

senator.

And that's the question I get.

Yeah, Tim, I can start.

I think, the issue here is Kansas will elect Democrats rather than Republicans, even if it's an incumbent, if they're given a reason to vote against the Republican.

I think that's what you're really seeing here is just the piling on of reasons that people might want to vote against Roger Marshall, the Republican incumbent.

But there's been other races where some good reasons have been been said against the Republican incumbent, and they still weren't able to pull it out for 80 plus years.

I mean, I don't have an answer, but, go ahead.

Well, I was going to kind of align with what Tim was saying.

I do think it really is about who is matched up in that race with Kelly.

You've seen Kelly and Kobach, you've seen Kelly and Schmidt.

And so it really is a matter of whether the people on one side maybe don't like the Republican candidate enough to vote Democratic.

Yeah.

The old adage of, you know, you're not necessarily voting for someone.

You're voting against someone.

What?

In the past, what has been at the U.S.

level, the thing that has is like a lightning rod, galvanize people to come out against a Republican.

And I didn't do the last hundred year research, but I would say we have it in the state we have.

Like if you look at the governors, Governor Kelly wrote in, on, on the on the bankruptcy of the state and the Brownback years and, and then she went up against a very, had Kobach with some and favorable unfavorable ratings here.

The unfavorable ratings is coming into play with with, Senator Marshall.

And things keep piling up on, expectedly, unexpectedly.

But I also think, you know, you just don't have a, some you're still don't have a warm body.

I think Adam Hamilton is much more than a warm body.

And the Democrats don't normally get much more than a warm body in the Senate race, although sometimes they happen.

But President President Trump is a polarizing figure, and Roger Marshall is very much connected to the president.

And that is a trickle down effect on this race.

What we've been talking about has, Governor Sebelius, John Carlin, long time, going back to docking.

They can win.

Democrats can win.

They can't win the US Senate seats.

So there's a formula like you're alluding to for a governor.

And I think one of the the, the aspects is what Bill said.

You also have to have a really good candidate.

Let's see, a couple of things.

But to that point, an ad from Laura Kelly from 2022, and then right after that, Adam Hamilton's first ad after the primary.

Like most Kansans, I'm not too far right or too far left.

I've always been pretty middle of the road, and that's how I've governed, getting Republicans and Democrats to meet in the middle.

Is how we turned a budget deficit into a record surplus, how we took a school system that was underfunded and made sure it was fully funded.

And it's how we're fixing roads all across Kansas, like this one right here.

Amazing what you can do when you govern from the middle.

Here in Kansas.

We're right smack dab in the middle of the country, the West Coast, about 1600 miles that way, the East Coast 1100 miles that way.

I'm Adam Hamilton, and here in Kansas, we're proud of being in the middle politically, too.

And that puts us about a million miles away from the extreme politics of Washington that are tearing us apart and driving up prices.

And I approve this message because to expand health care and lower costs, we have to fix our broken politics by meeting in the middle Adam Hamilton for Senate.

It's time for something different now.

I'll praise Republicans and Democrats alike if they come up with a great campaign message, a strategy that seems brilliant.

Study what Kelly did, that he had a tough reelection, but she pulled it out.

And then ride on that.

Do you agree?

I agree, I think both candidates, they're definitely using moderation as a selling point.

Right.

That bipartisanship maybe mixed views, pragmatic problem solving.

But I think it comes down to record.

And whether voters actually believe that record with Kelly, she has an established record, and some staunch Republicans may think that she isn't in the middle because she has a record of vetoing Republican legislation, whereas someone who's a centrist or independent may see her as attacking some of those extremes that come up in the legislature.

However, Hamilton does not have a record where he can say, I'm in the middle, so that is something he would still need to prove.

And also, I think the Republicans over the last 80 plus years have been very good at nationalizing, Senate elections.

And but here's Hamilton wanting to tie himself if it's if he's going to tie himself to a Democrat and he's he's a very recent Democrat, it's going to be Laura Kelly, who you said has has a record in Kansas where people can trust.

There's that formula that Laura Kelly used to win election twice.

Statewide you do really great in 7 or 8 counties, don't get slaughtered in the others, and you can win.

And so, they seem to be following that strategy.

I think Kansas is not California, New York, you know, with a bunch of liberal voters, extremely liberal voters.

Kansas has a bunch of independent voters, and a moderate message can prevail, whereas this super liberal approach would not.

Not in Kansas.

It just wouldn't fit.

Let's see.

Now, on the other side, Roger Marshall, a couple of his.

He's a workhorse and certainly not woke.

Doctor Roger Marshall wakes up early to fight for people who stay up late worrying about the bills, taking on credit card companies and big insurance to lower costs for Kansans fighting to pass a farm bill that protects Kansas farmers and ranchers, preserving rural health care, fighting for Kansans, delivering for us, doctor Roger Marshall and Roger Marshall.

And I approve this message.

I'm Doctor Roger Marshall, and I approve this message.

Millionaire megachurch CEO Adam Hamilton, whose fish to fatten his watch lives like a king with four homes, asked churchgoers to pony up for God, then use church resources for his own campaign.

So slight he got slapped with an ethics complaint.

And while Hamilton passed the plate, he pocketed 3 million in taxpayer funded Covid relief.

The swamps got enough money changers.

Keep Adam Hamilton out of the Senate.

So is this to this ad?

Speak to Rebecca's point that voters don't yet know Adam Hamilton.

Let's define him before they can get to know him because he doesn't have a record, right?

It's definitely a character attack.

You have Marshall defining himself as a workhorse, saying that he's focused on doing the job juxtaposed with being woke or not being woke, which he's trying to ensure that Hamilton is making him look out of step.

I think it's efficient, but it's not specific because it doesn't really talk about what Marshall has delivered or what Hamilton would do.

One of the measures of how close the race is is how how much the, campaigns and their, people carrying message for the various candidates, expand on what we might define as the truth.

And, misleading ads are going to intensify as we get closer to election.

And I really think the attack ad from the Marshall people is right on the border of the truth.

And, you know, it says an ethics complaint.

Well, the Republican Party, filed a complaint against them.

I don't think it went anywhere.

But, you know, it's it's almost like, say I'm a high school debater and I want to make a point in my debate.

And so I write a letter to the editor of the Topeka Capital Journal, and then I go into a debate, and I cite the Topeka Capital Journal as a source.

Yeah.

And that's that's what that was.

So I think I think that it that those ads, they do not address the key issues of this race, the cost of living, really what's going on in people's personal financial lives and money, money, money and the reality of of life in Kansas.

And I think that's that that doesn't sound like a winning message.

I just sounds like another attack ad that people hate.

What to your point this, the last few days or weeks of this campaign, whatever it whatever it will be, is going to include a lot of negative ads.

But the fact is, the polls are showing it to be a tight race.

We don't know.

But the national Republicans believe it is close because they're sending in a lot, a lot of money that they were not before John.

Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana actually said, I can't believe I'm going to states like Kansas.

He said, quote, these should be, fat guy layups, unquote.

Now, I didn't say it, for the Republicans and they're not.

So that, you know, you can make a prediction if you want.

But maybe more important, what's going to have to happen in the electorate in Kansas for either you can pick which candidate, to win or the other to lose.

Bill.

Yeah.

I'll go back to your ads that you showed real quick.

You didn't.

You heard Adam Hamilton.

He he spoke for himself.

You did not see Roger Marshall.

I know you didn't show all of it for him.

There has not been an ad yet.

Yet with Marshall speaking to the King.

Okay.

Yeah, I think that's his dilemma.

Is, is he?

So, he's he's seen as detached, and these do not help him at all.

Adam Hamilton very in the on the camera.

Very personable.

He's a master at this with growing his church.

And he speaks, you know, a lot.

And I don't think there's time enough for, Marshall to get, to change the narrative of him not being, even though he was in a, wheatfield there, that he doesn't know us or he's he's in a, you know, at home in Florida.

Come out in front of the camera, go shake some hands, go get into small towns and talk to people.

And I don't see that happening, in the last month.

Interesting point, because I've seen some races over Kansas history that include Bob Dole, who had the closest race before this one, possibly less than two points, where Bob Dole pulled out a Senate victory over Bill Roy, and the final ads of Bob Dole were him just sitting there looking at the camera because he he felt like he was going to lose and laying it all out, and he was able to pull it out.

I think that's a great point.

What's going to have to happen, Rebecca, for this?

I think for him, yeah.

For Hamilton, he's definitely going to have to appeal to independents and cross party voters up to Election Day.

For Marshall.

I think he has a little bit more of an advantage because of the history of people here voting Republican, and being the incumbent with a record.

I do think that Hamilton could win by a nose.

It's a bit of a toss up, just because the polling that we had from Emerson College polling showed, I think, about 51 to 49, and I don't think it's a big enough margin to say that it could go either way.

So right now it may be leaning a little bit more toward Hamilton.

I think some polls show him leading by just a little bit more, but it is something where I think they're going to have a tight race on their hands.

But I've Hamilton is still the underdog in this race.

Yeah, yeah.

But I have to say, whoever wins it could be a narrow victory.

They should remember when they go to Washington that they do not have a massive mandate from the people of Kansas.

It's a divided state.

And if somebody runs up to DC and only does Partizan politics, that's not going to be well received back here.

I think that's what got Marshall into a little bit of trouble.

We have two senators in Kansas.

I think most people would agree that Marshall identified himself with Trump much more than Jerry Moran.

And, the tide can turn a year or so ago.

That was a very safe strategy for Roger Marshall.

I think, for this race.

And like all races, the turnout, like you mentioned of of who shows up to vote, if a lot of MAGA voters, Trump voters just say, I'm going to sit this one out, that'll be tough for Marshall.

So I think turnout is going to be big.

And I think that's why nationally, the Republicans and others are looking at this race very closely because their polling is probably showing a bit of a blue wave.

Some Republican senators have already conceded that we're losing the House.

They said.

So we have to move on to Kansas, governor.

Race.

Interesting race, because, Governor Laura Kelly's preferred candidate lost the primary.

Ethan Corson and Cindy Halter, won the primary for the Democrats.

However, that made her maybe a bit of an underdog going into the race against Republican Tim Masterson, because possibly the the fundraising might not be as easy for her to not have the Kelly force as Sebelius forces and maybe some of the national Dems.

The dynamic for this right after the primary was that the Republicans, the Republican Governors Association and others decided to a to go after Holsher right after the primary and spent millions of dollars in not only TV ads, but streaming ads and social media.

So, let's take a look at what everyone was seeing, at least anyone watching a screen, for about the last month, in the governor's race and then a masterson ad as well.

Liberal Cindy.

Oh, sure.

Sure loves California, doesn't she?

First pollster said Kansas can learn from California.

Maybe that's why she opposed capping property taxes.

Now we learn culture.

Shares California values, too.

She suggested that Jesus could be transgender and supported biological males playing girl sports.

Don't let liberal Cindy Holsinger turn Kansas.

In the California RGA right Direction PAC is responsible for the content of this advertising.

I'm Jim Masterson.

I had to leave college to put food on the table.

Tough times mean tough choices.

That's why Ty Masterson is running for governor.

Extreme politicians like Cindy Hull sheriff keep making life harder.

She voted for the largest tax hike in Kansas history.

I worked hard to build a good life for my family.

That's why I'm fighting to lower property taxes and make life more affordable for every Kansan.

Tim Masterson delivered big tax cuts for working families.

I'm Ty Masterson and I will always put our families first.

So that first ad, the California thing now, I think there's 4 or 5 of the versions of those come from these outside groups.

And I'll give you one example.

My wife and I were watching an HBO Max, streaming program.

It's actually several years old, Perry Mason, of all things, and, two, 50 minute shows, 16 of those anti ads came up 16 and by the end were, you know, by the last 6 or 8 were like groaning, oh my gosh.

I mean it was relentless.

And I've had other people tell me the same thing.

Oh yeah I was watching this and I saw eight of those ads.

Is this, is this mean the end of Cindy Holscher because she's pummeled so much, in that first month, or is it actually overkill?

And so, you know, well, I'll just say for the whole, I think there is there is, I don't call it a Hail Mary, but if we had to have a wild card in what could overcome that pummeling, you've started to see some data center commercials.

Come on, we're going to see them.

Oh, I'm sorry, I may have to.

Spoiler.

I think that is the wild card here.

Because she really?

Again, what is she writing in on?

There is no Brownback, although she has tried to, connect Masterson to Brownback.

There's the budgets in currently healthy surplus.

So there's not that.

Oh, it's the centers.

This is what's causing the stir.

And it does cut across the aisle.

And with the independent voters out there, I think it's a that's a genius.

Hail Mary, you know how much I hate to say this deep.

So I hit.

Sorry about this.

That's a good point.

It kills me, but it's a good point, because in the Senate race, there's a lot of issues, right?

The gas prices and that are national issues that we can talk about.

But it here in Kansas, it's specific to the state.

She.

Yeah.

There's not this big, kind of rallying cry, but maybe she can invent one backer.

I think with that in that one, I shouldn't say that maybe she couldn't have won.

So I don't know.

You're fine.

I think with both of these ads, I would encourage voters to go back and actually look at the record when Tim Masterson is promising tax relief.

What is he really promising?

What is his plan?

A clear plan to get that done.

With Holscher, some of the things that are mentioned in these attack ads are sometimes taken out of context when it says, that she's calling Jesus trans and saying that Jesus was transgender, that being taken from a social media comments saying, I have no idea if Jesus was trans, gay, straight, etc.

and so you have to really go back with some of these and look at what the bigger framing is.

We have to do that with some of the Marshall attack ads on Hamilton, or PAC ads that were attacking Hamilton in the same way she and she voted.

He's referring to capping property taxes.

The vote was to cap property values, you know, and which is a I know it's a slight difference, but it's a little, you know, twist of words there.

Oh, she can probably do.

Okay.

Well, this isn't what we want as our governor, when there could be some other alternative that would say both state and local governments and still, reform some property tax issues.

So, yeah, it's a little twist there, a little, sleight of hand with a word here or there.

Who's checking these?

I mean?

Well, let's see what we come back.

But, the the the voter, you know, John and Sue, they're just digesting this is.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Bob, I think both of these ads could be effective for voters.

The, the attack ad on issues that people really care about.

And then the second one really kind of softens Masterson.

The view of Masterson, who was viewed as a little, you know, a difficult to deal with, among his peers.

But I think that softens that by looking at making him look like a regular person.

I do want to take issue with, and I understand what the Republicans are doing by portraying the largest tax increase in state history.

That is one way to frame the demise of the very, very destructive, Brownback tax program that was adopted in 2012 and repealed in 2017 by a bipartisan majority that overrode the governor's veto.

Cindy Holshcer was part of that building, that, bipartisan majority.

So while it is when you when you eliminate tax cuts, you raise taxes.

And that's what they're talking about.

And so I take issue with how these issues are framed.

And it does kind of take somebody that wants to do a little sleuthing on the internet to really sort out, something that happened about ten years ago in Kansas political history.

But I think that I think those ads, are working for him.

And money matters in the, in this advertising business of of campaign money, and particularly since we had one state fair debate and I think we're going to have anymore well, in this race, I've never seen a pummeling to your words like that so quickly and so much and so relentless.

And so when that Emerson poll from next came out, it showed possibly holster down by seven and somebody asked me, oh wow, you surprised by that?

And I said, no, I'm not surprised.

I'm surprised she's that close.

Anybody getting pummeled that much.

So she's come back Holscher now is advertising.

She's got her ads out is a spoiler alert alluded to.

National Democrats could have said, it's a lost cause.

They have not.

And they are now spending some money in Kansas.

So it does make me think.

They think of some things go right.

She's still in the ball game.

So let's take a look at the wholesaler ads in the anti Masterson ads.

This field of our iconic Kansas sunflowers is under threat because Big Tech wants to bring in a giant data center without protections that could raise our electricity costs, but our farmland and water supply is at risk, all while taxpayers foot the bill.

As governor, I'll hit pause on data centers until we can set up firm guardrails to protect our communities, our farms, our jobs, and our budgets.

Let's do this the right way.

Kansas.

So our state and our sunflowers can grow stronger for generations to come.

A crisis is growing in Kansas data centers, wasting water meant for farms and families, driving up your electric bills and time.

Masterson is pushing to build more of them because Masterson is big tech.

Biggest fan AI companies have already spent almost $1 million backing his campaign.

He gave big tech, big tax breaks, and all you got were higher utility bills.

Kansas can't afford to.

Masterson's mess telling stop backing data centers.

This is going to be the issue that can possibly help an underdog campaign get back in this race.

I, like I said, I think it is probably the the thing that can and showed it in the primary.

She she really bowled over communities where there was a lot of data center pushback, like an emporia and, I, I will say just as much as the other.

You have other commercials, not being completely honest here and completely, I'm seeing things here that scare people.

And I think the tactic of scaring people who don't know a lot about data centers, who haven't had one in their local community or may think, or who are more AI averse, may see that.

And go to the poll and go vote.

Holscher.

I'm not saying it's a bad strategy.

I'm okay.

Well, that's what I was asking about the strategy.

Yeah, well, I think there's also a risk with this, though when it comes to Cindy Holscher Taking the stance because both her and Tim Masterson voted in favor of tax incentives to bring these data centers here so she can kind of risk with this now paused, looking like a flip flop.

That's not good, right?

Yeah.

Or someone who doesn't take a stance because when I asked her after the primary what her position was on data centers, I asked, so you're not 100% against data centers?

And she said, no, there are data centers that have been done.

Well.

Meanwhile, you have people on social media.

They're thinking she's completely anti data center.

So she kind of gets to fly by with this narrative being push people not really knowing where exactly she may stand.

And I don't know, I think the real test here is going to be whether the rules can protect residents while still giving some leeway for development.

Yeah, we only got a couple of minutes left when I briefly hit the AG race.

Sorry.

It's a real quick point.

Very quick.

What what I think this exposes is that both of these politicians, Cindy Holsinger and Tim Masterson, voted for a massive 20 year tax break for data centers, and they both upped.

So yeah, this was a this was they didn't read the landscape very well and voted for a build a public third candidate in this race.

That would be interesting to point that out.

Right.

Let's take a quick look at two ads from Chris Mann and Kris Kobach in the attorney general rematch from 2022.

The attorney general's job is to protect Kansas families from anyone who preys on them.

I'm Chris Smith.

As a police officer, I arrested domestic abusers.

As a prosecutor, I put murderers in prison.

As a securities prosecutor, I stop scammers and greedy corporations who stole from Kansans.

Here's my pledge as your attorney general, if anyone preys on Kansas families, I don't care how powerful or wealthy they are, I'll go after them.

For you, attorney General Kris Kobach has brought crime in Kansas to a 57 year low.

Kris Kobach crackdown on fentanyl dealers.

Protecting Kansas is Kris Kobach top priority?

Saving lives, making Kansas safer.

Kris Kobach is tough on crime, but we actually have just time for one comment.

Each may be 20 some seconds, and we'll put it on the ag race.

Can Kris man do what he couldn't do in 2022?

Tim.

He said that when he lost four years ago, if he had a, you know, another 100k, he might have beat, Kris Kobach is a very close race, like a percentage point and a half, something like that.

I think he's more organized.

I said for years to think about this.

And, so he is a law enforcement officers.

He's been endorsed by very large, law enforcement organization in Kansas.

Typically, they endorse the incumbent attorney general.

And so there are signs that, it could be competitive.

And, you know, I think his narrative, man's narrative is really interesting.

He was a police officer and got hit by a drunk driver.

Rebecca, you have 15 seconds.

She took them.

Well, I think, man could possibly.

It was a really close race last us.

Yes.

With Kobach, what he's going to have to do is really defend his own record.

Now, voters can see.

Is this what we want from an attorney general?

Whereas, man, he'd be coming in with fresh eyes.

You got 10s.

Are you the attorney general for Kansas or the, the United States or President Trump?

And, Chris Mann, I think, I think is like the Senate race.

This is is not a warm body.

This is a good candidate.

And you have unfavorable is on Kobach's side.

This has a real shot.

Yeah.

Thanks so much.

Three really, really fascinating races here in Kansas and three excellent people to talk about it.

Thanks so much for being with us.

You've been watching an Iggy 2026 election special.

Keep your eye out for our continued programing on this important election year for Kansas.

The only comments for us.

Please send us an email at issues@ktwu.org.

If you would like to view this program again or any previous episodes of IGI, visit us online at watch.ktwu.org For KTWU, I'm Bob Beatty, thanks for watching.

This program on KTWU is brought to you by the Carol Jory Foundation.