Adam Hamilton has spent decades as a prominent Christian pastor, author, and community leader in Kansas. Now the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, he is seeking to take the approach he developed leading a politically diverse congregation into Washington.
Alongside Hamilton for much of that journey has been his wife, LaVon Bandy, whom he describes as his “high school sweetheart” and one of the most important influences on his life. The couple married in June 1982, shortly after Hamilton graduated from high school. More than four decades later, they have two daughters, a granddaughter, and two dogs, according to Hamilton's official campaign biography.
Hamilton is a fifth-generation Kansan who grew up in Prairie Village. He is best known as the longtime pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, which he and LaVon helped establish in the Kansas City area in 1990. He’s now challenging Republican Senator Roger Marshall in Kansas' November 3 Senate election.
Hamilton's campaign presents him as a candidate who is focused on lowering costs, protecting access to health care and overcoming partisan divisions. Political cooperation has become a central part of Hamilton's pitch to voters. He says his congregation is roughly evenly divided between Republicans, Democrats and independents, and argues that his experience bringing people with opposing views together could translate to politics.
His campaign says he entered the race because Washington needs to do more "actually listening, and bringing people together to solve problems." Hamilton has also staked out positions on some politically divisive issues. He supports protecting access to contraception and women's ability to make their own reproductive health decisions. On economic policy, he’s called for removing tariffs that increase consumer costs, while his other priorities include lowering prescription drug costs, improving rural health care and expanding housing supply.
Hamilton is locked in a remarkably close race with Marshall, who currently holds the seat, ahead of the November 3 election. The latest RealClearPolling average, covering surveys conducted between September 8 and October 14, has Marshall on 46 percent and Hamilton on 45.7 percent, giving the Republican an advantage of just 0.3 percentage points. Individual polls have produced similarly narrow results.
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