TOPEKA, Kan. – Republican Rep. Roger Marshall has won an open Senate seat in Kansas in a tougher-than-expected race that saw his Democratic opponent far outraise him.
Marshall is an obstetrician who has represented western and central Kansas in Congress for two terms. He prevailed against Democratic state Sen. Barbara Bollier.
Marshall entered the campaign with the GOP’s traditional advantages in a state that tends to vote for conservatives.
Republicans haven’t lost a Senate race in Kansas since 1932. But Bollier, a former Republican, excited Democrats and raised more than $25 million to set a Kansas record that Marshall couldn’t match.
Bollier pitched herself as an independent and common-sense centrist, but Marshall portrayed her as too liberal for Kansas.
Marshall will succeed retiring four-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.