A sermon delivered in June 2020 by Adam Hamilton, now the Democratic nominee challenging Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas, has become a focus of the campaign. Hamilton, then pastor of the Church of the Resurrection, spoke about racial privilege and urged members of his congregation to reflect on their own assumptions and actions.
The sermon came days after George Floyd was killed in Minnesota, during nationwide protests associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. Hamilton said that, as a White man, he had advantages and could be unaware of experiences faced by others. He described learning to listen and recognize what he called his own indifference, and said that self-examination and repentance were necessary before trying to help others.
Hamilton also addressed policing. He said he did not fear being shot during a traffic stop, while African American men he knew worried about what might happen if police pulled them over. He added that this did not mean all police officers were bad. The sermon also rejected rioting and looting and included Hamilton's view that lives of all races matter.
Marshall's campaign has characterized Hamilton as a politically liberal pastor. An outside group, the Massachusetts-based Main Street Fund, also criticized Hamilton in an advertisement, combining excerpts from two sermons and describing him as too liberal for Kansas, according to The Kansas City Star, as cited in the source report.
Hamilton's campaign spokesperson, Tyson Brody, responded by accusing Marshall of trying to draw attention away from other issues. Brody cited the cost of fuel and groceries and argued that voters want a senator who will not divide people by race, religion, income or ability to pay medical bills. Brody also said Marshall was attacking Hamilton over views that Marshall's own pastor had described as middle-of-the-road. These are campaign statements, not independently established findings in the supplied material.
The race is described in the source report as unusually competitive for Kansas, a state with a long history of not electing a Democrat to the Senate. The Cook Political Report has rated the contest a toss-up, the report says, as voter concern about fuel, grocery and other costs has grown. National Republicans have begun directing additional resources toward keeping the seat, according to the report.
Marshall has generally aligned himself with President Donald Trump, though the source notes an instance in which he sought greater advance notice and coordination between the Department of Homeland Security and Kansas officials after federal immigration agents arrived in the southern part of the state. The report does not provide further detail on that episode.
In 2020, Marshall also publicly condemned Floyd's killing and called for reforms. After a House Judiciary hearing on policing and law enforcement accountability, he urged congressional Democrats to work with Republicans on reforms intended to prevent deaths like Floyd's and that of Patrick Underwood, a federal Protective Services officer killed in a drive-by shooting days after Floyd's death. The source presents the statements as part of Marshall's response at the time.
The material identifies the present campaign as a midterm contest but does not specify the election year in its account. The dispute over Hamilton's sermon is therefore situated in the broader race narrative supplied by the report, while the quoted sermon remarks and Marshall's police-reform comments date to 2020.
