The campaigns for Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall and Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton late Tuesday confirmed the two candidates will debate at the Kansas State Fair later this month.
Representatives from each campaign said a debate between the two candidates will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 12. Earlier in the day, a debate between Republican Senate President Ty Masterson and Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher is planned.
The Hamilton campaign said the debate would last until 3 pm.and would be broadcast by WIBW radio and the Kansas Radio Network.
Last month, Marshall and Hamilton went back and forth over the debate, each posting letters to one another on social media that were sarcastically addressed to cities where each have homes outside of Kansas.
Hamilton, the Methodist pastor, addressed his debate invitation to Marshall in Sarasota, Florida, where the senator has had a vacation home that he has put up for sale although he has been criticized for trips he’s made there at taxpayer expense.
Marshall, meanwhile, addressed a debate invite to Hamilton at the Lake of the Ozarks where the pastor and his wife own a home in Camden County. Hamilton’s primary residence is in southeast Johnson County.
Hamilton urged Marshall to participate in two televised debates hosted by news outlets serving the Kansas City and Wichita markets. He also asked the senator to participate in a series of public town hall meetings, something he’s been criticized of avoiding.
Meanwhile, Marshall said the state fair would be a good atmosphere to explain to rancher why he said that cattle are a source of more carbon dioxide and suggested that Kansans should change their diet.
Marshall referenced an ad against Hamilton, citing a sermon from 2020 when he said, “Now you got to do everything you can to reduce your own, you know usage of fossil fuels but- and maybe changing your diet so that the things that you eat are requiring less production that creates methane and carbon dioxide and everything else.”
The Hamilton campaign said the ad spliced together footage from one of the pastor’s sermons to create “made-up, edited quotes” to cast Hamilton as opposed to the state’s livestock industry.
With the sniping set aside for now, the two sides confirmed a debate for the State Fair, usually a raucous occasion with supporters on each side cheering – sometimes wildly – for their candidates.
“Adam Hamilton is looking forward to participating in the Kansas State Fair debate,” said Tyson Brody, the pastor’s campaign spokesperson.
“Kansans are being crushed by rising groceries and gas prices, losing access to their healthcare, and are increasingly frustrated by Washington corruption,” Brody said in a text message.
“Our farmers are facing uncertainty as tariffs change for no rhyme or reason and the war in Iran makes fuel and fertilizer more expensive,” Brody said.
“Roger Marshall would understand how the chaos and corruption in Washington is hurting Kansans if he actually held public events, instead of hiding from voters and calling them ‘dangerous.’ Kansans deserve a senator that is accountable and puts our state, not Washington or Florida, first,” he said.
Brody was alluding to an Aug. 20 report from The Hays Post where Marshall explained why he hasn’t attended a public town hall meeting in more than a year.
“The town halls just became non-productive and dangerous, not just dangerous for myself, but dangerous for my staff and dangerous for the people in the audience as well, so I just don’t think that they’re safe to do,” Marshall said.
He said he has planned telephone town halls instead.
A spokesperson for Marshall did not comment Tuesday night other than to confirm details of the debate late Tuesday night.
