President Donald Trump is heading to Kansas for a campaign event on Monday as polls show a tightening Senate race between Republican Senator Roger Marshall and Democrat Adam Hamilton in a seat Republicans have held for nearly a century. Trump is scheduled to campaign near Wichita just weeks before the November 3 election, as Democrats are increasingly optimistic about taking control of the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority. The Kansas Senate race has emerged as among the tossups that could determine which party holds a majority when Congress reconvenes next year.
The president has traversed the country in recent weeks to try to boost candidates who are supportive of his policies, including several candidates running in competitive races in traditionally conservative states. The national environment has shifted in Democrats’ favor as Trump’s approval rating has slipped in recent months amid growing voter frustration with the economy, largely centered around affordability and the cost of living. Kansas, a farm state, could also be particularly vulnerable to impacts of soaring diesel prices amid the Iran war.
Republicans will be hoping the Trump rally could build enthusiasm among the conservative base to head to the polls in November, but Democrats are still optimistic after a flurry of surveys have shown the race could be decided by a razor-thin margin. Kansas has long been a conservative stronghold, the Democrats last winning a Senate race there in 1932. In a statement to Newsweek, the Marshall campaign described the election as a "clear choice" between a senator who has "delivered major wins for our farmers, cut taxes for the middle class, and secured the border" or a "Chuck Schumer-funded Democrat." "We look forward to welcoming President Trump to Kansas today—a president who is second to none at getting out the vote," the statement reads.
Newsweek reached out to the Hamilton campaign for comment via email. Three recent polls reveal that Trump’s approval rating is underwater in Kansas, despite him winning the state by 16 points against former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Trump’s net approval rating was -7 points in a recent YouGov poll of 2,255 likely voters conducted from September 24 to October 4.
Forty-six percent of respondents said they approved of Trump, while 53 percent disapproved of him, the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points, found. Meanwhile, a The New York Times/ Siena poll gave him a -15 point approval rating, with 40 percent approving and 55 percent disapproving. It surveyed 605 voters from September 22 to 30, 2026, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.
In an Emerson College poll, 53 percent of respondents disapproved of Trump while 40 percent approved, giving him a -13 point approval rating among 750 likely voters. The poll was conducted from September 15 to 16 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. Although Kansas is not traditionally seen as competitive in federal races, polling has shown a tight race between Hamilton and Marshall.
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