(Updated with comment from bakery owner)
It was the complaint heard around the Kansas political world.
Holly Thomas, the owner of Holly’s Sweet Treats in Hutchinson, explained why she wasn’t voting for Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, who is now in a tight Senate race with Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton.
“Because six years ago, when I was a brand-new small business owner, his campaign ordered cookies and treats from my bakery for his primary election watch party,” she posted on Facebook.
“And I never got paid.”
She posted a copy of the unpaid invoice for $678.75 – the cost of 150 sugar cookies with logos, 100 custom mini strawberry muffin cupcakes and 100 fudge brownies.
“For nearly a year, I made repeated attempts to collect payment, reaching out by phone and email. I never received a return phone call, and the invoice was never paid,” she wrote.
“Six years later, I haven’t forgotten,” she wrote. 
“This isn’t about political parties or policy disagreements. It’s about my personal experience as a small business owner and the importance of honoring financial commitments.
“That experience is why Roger Marshall will never get my vote.”
The Facebook post got 2,700 “likes” and 1,300 shares.
The news apparently got to the senator, who has been defending against criticism for suing patients for unpaid medical bills.
At about 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, the senator responded to the complaint.
“As some folks may have seen, there was a post on social media regarding an unpaid 2020 cookie bill,” he posted on social media.
“We have absolutely no idea how this happened, but rest assured as soon as it became known to us, we immediately attempted to contact the business in order to apologize, and we have repaid the bill from 2020, double.”
He attached a paid invoice – due date Sept. 2, 2020 – showing that $1,300 was charged to an American Express card.
His own confession had already been seen 46,000 times as of about 1:30 Saturday afternoon.
Thomas played down all the talk the unpaid bill has been generated on social media.
“Im glad that he paid and everything is taken care of now,” she said.
Thomas said she had no idea that her Facebook post would generate so much internet chatter let alone that she would be repaid.
“I really did not anticipate it going as far as it did,” she said.
“I honestly don’t know what to say,” she said. “I’m just a girl making cookies just trying to feed people joy.”
Thomas said she been in her Hutchinson retail space for about seven years, opening just months before the COVID pandemic hit.
She said she started with a home-based bakery in about 2012 or 2013.
Thomas said friends asked her why she didn’t send the bill to collections.
“I didn’t feel like it was worth the time,” she said.
The flap over the unpaid bakery bill comes during a nip-and-tuck Senate race against Hamilton, whose campaign has been drawing national attention as he seeks to become the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Kansas since 1932.
Hamilton has been trying to force Marshall to account for suing more than 700 patients for unpaid medical bills, including some who were arrested for missing court dates.
Hamilton’s snarky digital creator – Tyson Brody – mocked the senator for not paying the bakery bill given all the coverage of the lawsuits filed over unpaid medical bills.
“I assume this bill will be paid, though we can only ask if they will also add in 18% interest for an overdue debt,” Brody posted, alluding to the percentage Marshall’s patients were charged for outstanding bills.
After Marshall revealed that he paid the bill, Brody chipped in with this sarcasm:
“Unfortunately he paid less than he charged his patients – at 18% interest it would be $1,410.24 after six years!”
