Candidates clash over Trump policies, Senate control in debate

Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall and Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton, a megachurch pastor, met in a debate Wednesday in a contest that has tightened enough to threaten the GOP's long hold on the state's Senate seats. Marshall warned that a Hamilton win could give Chuck Schumer control of the chamber, while Hamilton cast himself as a moderate and pledged not to back Schumer as majority leader, according to CBS News.

The two split over President Trump's agenda. Hamilton criticized the tariffs and called for ending the Iran war, saying it was a mistake to enter. Marshall credited the tariffs with reviving manufacturing and said Iran cannot be allowed a nuclear weapon. Like Trump, he pinned higher diesel prices on the war in Ukraine, though he was cool toward the president's plan to buy Russian diesel. He also said he had objected to Trump over immigration raids in Kansas and a temporary beef import waiver, since both hurt farmers. Hamilton called ICE tactics militarized and politicized.

Each man faced a personal controversy. Marshall defended his handling of unpaid bills owed by former patients, which the New York Times examined.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CBS News’s reporting. Read the full story at CBS News →