KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Sen. Pat Roberts announced his impending retirement last year after representing Kansas in the U.S. Congress for nearly 40 years, the race for his successor promised intrigue.
Democrat Barbara Bollier, a physician and state senator from Johnson County, easily won her party’s nomination Tuesday, but most of the attention was focused on who she’d run against in the Nov. 3 general election.
U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall, a physician from south-central Kansas, and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach emerged as the top two contenders for the Republican nomination in a crowded field of 11 candidates, which also included Johnson County businessman Bob Hamilton and former Chiefs defensive end David Lindstrom.
By an 11% margin, Marshall will try to follow in Roberts’ footsteps and win election to the Senate after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Marshall owned a nearly 22,000-vote lead with 1,471 of of 3,577 precincts reporting over Kobach.
The Associated Press called the race with Marshall owning 37% of the vote compared with 26% for Kobach. Hamilton sat in a distant third 20% of the vote, while Lindstrom received 8% of the vote and was fourth.
Marshall spent the past four years in the House, representing Kansas’ 1st District.
His next test will be against Bollier, once a moderate Republican who switched party affiliations in 2018, in three months in a race sure to draw national attention.
"To beat Barbara Bollier, to beat the Democrats, we have to be one team here, and you will find that we have way more in common than what divides us," Marshall said following his victory Tuesday night.
"What I would pledge to you as your senator is I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you, your family, your loved ones safe and get you safely through this virus. We're going to do it together," he said.
President Donald Trump called Marshall after his victory was announced to congratulate him.
Thank you, @realDonaldTrump. #kssen pic.twitter.com/jEW5Db41Mm
— Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) August 5, 2020
Kansas voters previously rebuffed Kobach’s bid to become governor two years ago, electing Laura Kelly instead.
Roberts, 84, served in the U.S. House from 1981 to 1997 when he won election to the U.S. Senate, a seat he’d held ever since.
Bollier, who received 86% of the vote is considered a real threat to flip the seat despite the fact that no Democrat has represented Kansas in the U.S. Senate since the 1930s.
She also addressed her supporters following her victory.
"We need an independent voice, willing to stand up for what's right for Kansans," Bollier said. "I have a proven record of doing just that, for over a decade in the the Kansas Legislature."
"I've always put my constituents above any partisan political agenda and I always will. You'll never hear my opponent say that, which means he will just be a part of the problem, part of gridlock in Washington," she said.
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