Johnson County businesswoman Sandy Spidel Neumann on Thursday morning launched her campaign for U.S. Senate, becoming the fourth Democrat in a primary field seeking to challenge Republican incumbent Roger Marshall next year.
Spidel Neumann, who was born in Topeka and grew up in Overland Park, began her campaign after introducing herself in a Zoom call to supporters Wednesday night. The Sunflower State Journal first reported her possible candidacy Tuesday.
“Kansans deserve leaders who don’t run from tough issues, who reach across the table, incorporate diverse viewpoints and work toward win-win solutions,” Spidel Neumann told supporters Wednesday night.
“I’m running for the Senate to fight for our shared values – integrity, hard work and opportunity for everyone,” she said. “I’m not a politician, and I’m not looking for a career. I’m looking to fix what’s broken and turn it over to the next generation.”
Spidel Neumann talked about tariffs and Medicaid cuts that she said threaten the Kansas economy.
She also targeted Marshall for not supporting renewal of the enhanced premium tax credits to hold down the cost of coverage on the Affordable Care Act Exchanges.
“You don’t need a degree in economics to see that the tariffs are not working for our farmers. They’re eliminating markets and driving up costs during what was a record yield,” she said during the call.
“Farmers don’t want bailouts or Band-Aids. They want markets reopened, and I’ll fight to get them reopened,” she said.
She said she was motivated to run after Marshall ran into an angry group of residents at a town hall meeting in Oakley, Kansas, earlier this year. It was reported that Marshall was shouted down, causing the senator to end the meeting early.
Spidel Neumann said she now lives in an apartment in Merriam after spending most of her career working out of state. She moved there in July and is now looking to buy a house.
She was asked during the call how she would explain being gone from Kansas for so long, although she grew up here.
She went to college in Chicago and has worked in executive positions there and in Minneapolis from more than 20 years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“Home is where the heart is,” she said. “I would say my parents lived down here. I put more miles on I-35 driving for a variety reason to get down here for them.
“Roger Marshall lives in Florida, and I bet you that I’ve spent more time in Kansas than he has in the last five years,” she said.
“I want to know where his dog is licensed and where his wife is teaching Sunday school. I’ve got news for you, it’s not in Great Bend.”
She most recently served as vice president of Ameriprise where she worked in financial institution business development and marketing.
She worked at Ameriprise from 2003 to 2025, when she retired.
Earlier, Spidel Neumann worked as director of partner marketing and business for LifeServ Corp. in Chicago from 2000 to 2002.
And before that, she worked as director of partner marketing and business development for CNA Insurance in Chicago from 1997 to 2000.
She also worked as a financial analyst for MacAdam & Co. in Chicago from 1995 to 1997.
And she served as a mutual fund supervisor for Kemper Financial Services in Chicago.
Spidel Neumann has a master’s in marketing and digital strategy from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s in economics from the University of Chicago.
Spidel Neumann would join a field that already includes three other Democrats: former congressional candidate Christy Davis of Cottonwood Falls, Overland Park immigration lawyer Anne Parelkar and perennial candidate Michael Soetaert.
“I’m not running against them, to be fair,” she said. “I’m running against Marshall.”
All three candidates will have a steep climb given their overall lack of statewide name ID.
Barbara Bollier of Johnson County raised about $29 million in 2020 and still lost to Marshall with about 42% of the vote even while winning her home county by 8 percentage points.
Marshall reported raising $681,719 in the last quarter ending Sept. 30 with about $3.3 million in cash on hand as of June 30.
During the call, Spidel Neumann said when she started looking at running for the U.S. Senate, she was told she would have to raise anywhere from $6 million to $10 million.
“I don’t know that I can raise that much, but I’m going to give it a shot,” she said.
“But it’s not about the campaign, it’s about saving democracy at this point,” she said. “We have to invest to keep our republic free and Democratic.”
Spidel Nuemann’s team includes Democratic pollster Celinda Lake and media consultant GPS Impact, whose partners include veteran political strategist Roy Temple, who previously served as chief of staff to the late Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan.
GPS Impact has worked for Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly as well as Democrat Chris Mann in his narrow loss to Kris Kobach for attorney general in 2022.
Her senior adviser is Max Glass, who ran Bollier’s campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2020. and Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s reelection campaign in 2022. He also was the get-out-the-vote director for the AFL-CIO in Michigan.
Her mail consultant is Mike Luce with Navigate Campaigns, and her digital adviser is Authentic, which has done work for Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs of Arizona.
