As the GOP becomes more and more worried about surprise midterm losses in their own strongholds, a second former GOP governor has publicly endorsed a Democratic candidate in a deep-red state.
Republican Mike Hayden previously served as governor of Kansas from 1987 to 1991, and later served as head of the state’s Wildlife and Parks Department under two subsequent administrations. Writing for the Kansas City Star newspaper on Friday, Hayden became the second former GOP governor to endorse Democratic Senate nominee Adam Hamilton in his race to unseat Sen. Roger Marshall, following in the footsteps of former Gov. Bill Graves.
“I ran for office for the first time when I was only 28 years old because I felt the person representing my community in the legislature was failing to fight for the needs of our state,” Hayden wrote. “Today, I am endorsing Adam Hamilton for the U.S. Senate for the same reasons. I am a proud lifelong Republican. My conservative values guided me throughout my time as governor and the years since. I fought for property tax reform, stood up for agricultural producers, and put our state on stronger financial footing. Governing should always center around the best interests of the people.”
Hayden argued further that Marshall, the state’s one-term junior senator, “is failing to live up to that standard,” and that Kansans “deserve champions in Congress who fight for them every day.” Instead, “the policies currently coming out of Washington are leaving them behind,” including President Donald Trump’s “chaotic tariffs,” as well as his Iran war, which “is causing record-high diesel prices, driving up the cost of planting, harvesting, and hauling, and more family farms are at risk of going bankrupt.”
“Sen. Marshall time and again has chosen to back the tariffs and the war, despite what is happening back in Kansas,” Hayden continued. “Kansans need a senator willing to stand up and say this isn’t working, and to press for relief and real solutions. We need a senator who listens. I believe Adam will be that kind of leader for our state.”
He added: “We also need a senator who understands compromise and bipartisanship are not weaknesses, but strengths. As speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives and as governor, I knew it took reaching across the aisle to deliver for Kansans. Adam’s experience as the pastor of the largest United Methodist church in the country — a church that is made up of equal parts Republicans, Democrats, and Independents — makes him uniquely prepared to go to Washington and bring people together around the solutions we need to solve our nation’s biggest problems, whether it’s the Farm Bill or reducing the national debt.”
Hayden noted that he had supported Marshall in the past, but lamented the fact that he “has spent his time in the Senate putting party and politics over the people of Kansas,” leading him to believe that “it’s time for a change.”