Published August 17, 2026 at 4:00 PM CDT

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Since 1932, Republicans have won every U.S. Senate election in Kansas. It is, by far, the longest winning streak of its kind in the upper chamber of Congress.

However, political scientist Bob Beatty of Washburn University believes the race between incumbent Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall and Democrat Rev. Adam Hamilton is going to become a critical matchup to watch in this year’s midterms.

Beatty thinks that Hamilton’s ability to communicate — which he honed as a pastor — has helped him tremendously in his campaign. Plus, he has been a very successful fundraiser so far.

“He did jump in the race and raised a million dollars in one week,” Beatty told KCUR's Up To Date. “And I knew immediately that we've got a race in Kansas.”

While Kansans have only sent Republicans to the Senate over all this time, Democrats have been elected governor of Kansas just as often as Republicans since the 1950s — with current Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly winning two terms in a row.

“That's probably the number one question of Kansas politics, because we get elections every several years, and we know that the Democrats win in the governorship,” Beatty explained.

But right now, Beatty sees Republican Ty Masterson having the upper hand over Democratic nominee Cindy Holscher in the race to become the state's next governor.

“No new Democrat has been able to win an election to follow a Democrat that was in office," Beatty said. "That's sort of an odd way to say it, but it's just the fact that if we get a Democrat, maybe even a very popular Democrat, going back to Kathleen Sebelius and, you know, others like John Carlin, the next Democrat that runs has not been able to win.”

• Bob Beatty, political science professor, Washburn University