ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Election Day for the 2026 midterms is rapidly approaching, and candidates for all offices in Kansas are in the home stretch when it comes to getting their message out.
U.S. Senate candidates Adam Hamilton and Roger Marshall took part in a debate Wednesday evening and one of the issues talked about was affordability and high gas prices, particularly as a result of recent actions in Iran.
“Presuming I win, the aim is to end the war as quickly as possible. This is really a short-term solution. It saves 30 cents a gallon for farmers who are paying $6.40 a gallon for diesel fuel,” Hamilton said. “We're trying to find some immediate relief, but it's not a long-term solution. It's a very short-term stop gap, and my hope is that in January, we're going to bring a bill to the president to bring this war to a conclusion very quickly. Kansans need that. Americans need that. They're crying out for it. And again, Roger Marshall has failed to support ending the war.”
“I hate war. I hate war as only a soldier who lived it can. I want this war to be over as badly as anybody does in America. I served. My brother served. My dad served. My son is serving. I want this war to be over just as soon as possible. But we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, and I don't think any of the listeners out there want to have a nuclear weapon either. This is why we can't have Adam Hamilton with a weak Democrat policy who only gives us war through weakness as opposed to peace through strength. I think some type of a moratorium on the diesel tax is a short-term solution. I'm not opposed to it. But let's think about what the real problem here is. The real problem with the cost of diesel in particular is number one is the Ukraine war and because of that diesel production has gone down. But beyond that, why are we dependent upon diesel imports? It's because of the Green New Deal policy my opponent supports. His policies would fit in just right with Chuck Schumer. If I lose this seat, Adam Hamilton would give control of the Senate to Chuck Schumer, who would go back to his Green New Deal. We've not had a new refinery built since 1978. We've lost 90 refineries since 1990. When I was born in El Dorado, we had three refineries. The problem right now is the is the refining capacity because of overregulations created by the Green New Deal and attacks on the on American energy, on American agriculture. We don't we don't have diesel prices will never come down. But when this war is over with, those diesel prices are going to come down along with the gasoline prices as long as Republicans have control.”
Other questions also asked about the current situation in Iran, particularly regarding a War Powers Resolution.
“I want this war to be over as soon as anybody. I'm a Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan peace through strength guy. Who the Democrats are, they give us war through weakness. How did Obama respond to Iran? He sent them. Obama sent at $1.7 billion dollars in pallets to Iran. Iran would have had a nuclear weapon by now if we would have used his policies today as well. And then what does Joe Biden do when it comes to national security? He was so weak when we left Afghanistan, it opened the door for Putin to invade Ukraine. They give us war through weakness. That's what this is all about. As your U.S. senator, I'm always going to look for the safety of your family first. It was just two years ago we had wide open borders millions of people coming across. President Reagan said freedom is only a generation from away from extinction his open border policies he developed with Barack Obama will lead to that same thing. My opponent worked on immigration policy amnesty policy with Barack Obama, and if he gets control of this seat he'll give control to the US Senate to Chuck Schumer, which will create open borders and is a threat to our republic.”
“My opponent is pointing at me as though I developed these policies. I just want to remind everyone, I've been a pastor for the last 38 years. I have not been a senator. I didn't develop policies with President Obama or anyone else. What’s been done in Washington DC right now has made the world more dangerous, not more safe. No one wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon. But the president assured us last year we had taken care of those capabilities. Then we decided we needed to launch a war, an offensive war, and that violates every principle of international law. We have to do better, and what they did made the world less safe, more difficult to navigate because of their decisions. It was not a good decision to go to war in Iran and we need to get out.”
Both candidates were also later asked about regulations on artificial intelligence.
“Artificial intelligence is a place I don't believe in overregulation, but I believe there are times we have to regulate,” Hamilton said. “AI is on the cutting edge and what happens is if people are left to their own devices? They're going to look at the profit motive before they look at what's safe and secure for Americans, for the world. We need to do what we did when we developed nuclear power and nuclear weapons. We developed a nuclear regulatory commission. We need to do the same thing with AI, and Congress needs to be involved. But they also need to bring the experts in AI. Congress is not the expert in this field. We've got to look at how do we take care of this so we are not jeopardizing the future of our children and our grandchildren. Right now, leaving this to the AI industry on their own is a bad idea.”
“I think a light touch is needed, which is what Republicans do,” Marshall added. I look at this through a lens always first of national security. We cannot let China get ahead of our military, I think that's number one. Next, we need to demand full transparency, and that's what my legislation would look like. We need to demand full transparency, protect our children, protect privacy. Those would be the guard rails. But again, I want you to think about Chuck Schumer and what his leadership wants to do – they want some type of a world order on this, some type of regulations around AI that the whole world would follow. Do you think China and Russia will ever follow that? If my opponent becomes the senator, it would give control of the Senate to Chuck Schumer and he would go back to probably the League of Nations attitude of trying to figure out some type of guardrails for this. But first and foremost, we need to make sure we keep our military strong and ahead. We need to know what's coming down the road. Protect our children, protect people's privacy.”
The debate ended with the candidates giving closing statements.
“If you appreciate having record diesel fuel prices, 50,000 people in Kansas taken off of healthcare, thousands of children no longer receiving SNAP benefits. If you feel like it's okay to have ICE arresting people in Southwest Kansas and hurting our livestock industry, if you think the tariffs are good and unpredictability, chaos and corruption is okay in Washington, then I'd say vote for Roger Marshall,” Hamilton said. “If you want change, I'd like to ask you to vote for me. Whether you're Republican, Democrat, or Independent, I will stand up for you. I will fight for you. And I'm going to make sure in Washington DC, we're acting with decency, compassion, kindness, and doing the right thing for the people in Kansas.”
“Secure borders, stronger military, lower taxes. That's what Republicans stand for. If we lose this seat, that means Chuck Schumer controls the Senate,” Marshall said. “That means Elizabeth Warren would control the banking committee. Bernie Sanders would control healthcare. Cory Booker would be in charge of the ag committee. We can't have that. That's not what Kansas needs. We need someone who's going to stand up, make sure we have strong jobs, good jobs, and protects our traditional Kansas values. I'm a fifth-generation farm kid who got to live his American dream, delivering a baby almost every day for some 25 years. Please vote.”
