Republican Senator Roger Marshall was sued by a former patient this week, as President Donald Trump revives his plans to hold a rally in the Sunflower State, which appears more competitive than initially expected in this year's midterm elections. Kansas emerged as a late battleground as Marshall, first elected to the Senate in 2020, faces a close challenge from his Democratic opponent, pastor Adam Hamilton. The race, once thought of having a Republican edge, has shifted to the Cook Political Report’s toss-up column in recent weeks as public polling has given neither candidate a clear advantage.
Top-rated pollsters have given Hamilton a slight edge, and Trump reversed course on plans to cancel a campaign event in the state. Republicans initially said he would no longer be attending the rally in Salina, Kansas, this weekend, instead opting for a virtual rally, but on Friday, the White House confirmed he would be campaigning in the state on Sunday. As the campaign enters its final days, Marshall, who spent 25 years working as an obstetrician-gynecologist before his foray into politics, was hit with a new lawsuit by a former patient, Meischa Zimmerman.
Newsweek reached out to Marshall’s campaign for comment via email. The new class action lawsuit accused Marshall and his former medical practice Heartland Regional OBGYN of charging illegally high interest rates on services. It also alleged Marshall and his practice of engaging “in a long-standing pattern and practice of aggressively seeking to collect, and collecting, medical bills that were unpaid by Marshall's patients, including by filing numerous lawsuits against Marshall's patients.” It described the 18 percent interest rate as “unmitigated greed and blatantly unlawful,” pointing to Kansas law prohibiting the charging of more than 15 percent interest.
Kansas law does provide several exceptions to when higher interest rates could be charged. Marshall’s campaign has not responded to the lawsuit. It is not clear whether other patients have joined the lawsuit.
Zimmerman has appeared in an advertisement supporting Hamilton’s campaign alleging that she was arrested over debt she owed related to the delivery of her daughter. Marshall's campaign sent the Hamilton campaign a cease-and-desist letter, describing the ad as defamatory. Several recent polls pointed to a closer race than expected between Marshall and Hamilton.
A new Emerson College poll gave Hamilton a slight edge over Marshall, 48.7 percent to 45.2 percent. When leaners were distributed, Hamilton led by 49.5 percent to 47.1 percent. It surveyed 800 likely voters from October 26-28 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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