The Democratic field for the U.S. Senate grew to eight Tuesday morning when a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan announced a campaign to unseat Republican incumbent Roger Marshall.
Noah Taylor, 34, of Kechi is joining a primary field that includes seven other candidates seeking to unseat Marshall, whose first term in the U.S. Senate is coming to an end. He served in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012.
“I’m running for Senate because I believe that our members of Congress have deserted regular Kansans while a few at the top profit,” he said in an interview.
“We’re already being squeezed by grocery bills, health care costs and tariffs and now somehow we’re still supposed to sacrifice more for this endless war,” he said.
The Democratic field seeking to replace Marshall now includes Jason Hart, a former assistant U.S. attorney; state Sen. Patrick Schmidt of Topeka; Kansas City developer Erik Murray; retired businesswoman Sandy Spidel Neumann of Merriam; former congressional candidate Christy Davis of Cottonwood Falls; and Overland Park immigration lawyer Anne Parelkar.
Perennial candidate Michael Soetaert also is running for the Senate.
Meanwhile, Johnson County megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton also is considering a run as an independent.
“I’m the only candidate that’s a combat veteran,” Taylor said. “I know what it means to stand up and fight.
“When we look out at this forever war and when we look at Kansans fighting to survive with these tariffs that are costing us thousands of dollars, they’re not looking for somebody to come in and save the day.
“They’re looking for somebody to stand up and fight against this Epstein class, the system that continuously pushes us down,” he said, alluding to the late millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein and his sexual abuse of girls.
“I know what it means to be concerned about these grocery prices, to be concerned about my electricity bill climbing,” he said.
“I have the exact same concerns as other Kansans and I think that’s where I differentiate myself.”
Taylor is joining the race with the primary election now five months away with some of the candidates already having a head start on fundraising.
“I’m going to have to work hard,” he said.
“I’m not afraid of hard work, and I think my background shows that with my combat experience and my counterintelligence experience that nothing in my life has been easy,” he said.
“When I look at this campaign, it’s just another mission that I’ve got to accomplish,” he said.
Taylor is a business owner and a co-founder of Leading Kansas, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works with political leaders and activists.
He is married with two children, a daughter who is 11 and a son who is 8.
He has a bachelor’s in communications from Wichita State.
Taylor said he’s trying to build on the work that he’s done at Leading Kansas.
“All we’re trying to do is just make sure that the people of Kansas have their voice heard, and that’s what I’m running to do is continue that work and make sure that the people of Kansas are what’s represented and not D.C. talking points like Roger Marshall,” he said.
