Kansas Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton says he'll be 'disappointed' if Trump investigations are focus of new Congress

Dylan Lysen, The Kansas City Star on Nov 9, 2026

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Fresh off becoming the first Democratic candidate to win a U.S. Senate seat from Kansas in nearly a century, Adam Hamilton is calling for his party to focus on improving the lives of Americans rather than further dividing the country with political games.

Otherwise, he fears Democrats will suffer a “one and done” blue wave.

Hamilton said he would be disappointed if the Senate spends much of his first two years in office focusing on Trump and investigations.

Hamilton, the founding pastor of the nation’s largest United Methodist church, unexpectedly defeated the Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall last week. The result was part of a historic election for Democratic candidates as the political party has taken control of both the House and Senate, which was seen as a remarkable rebuke of Republican President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

Hamilton told NBC’s "Meet the Press" over the weekend that Kansans are fed up with the direction of the country — such as the rising prices for fuel and 20,000 Kansas children losing food assistance benefits.

“There were things happening in D.C. that people were saying that’s just not American,” Hamilton said. “It’s not who we are as Kansans, and we have to do better.”

Now that the results are in, Democrats need to deliver on their promises to address those issues, Hamilton said.

His top priority will be focusing on improving the cost of living for Americans, especially people who are living paycheck to paycheck. That could include taking back control of tariffs policy and ending the war in Iran “as quickly as possible.”

However, Democratic leaders have promised to use their newfound control of Congress to launch investigations into corruption in Trump’s administration and his family’s business dealings.

While Hamilton is worried about Trump using the office to enrich himself and supports creating new guardrails to stop corruption in the future, he believes Congress should be more focused on helping Americans.

“One of the number one concerns of American people is corruption in Washington, D.C., and that’s on both sides of the aisle,” Hamilton said. “So, yes, we need to address that, but I really want us to focus on what brings Americans together, what heals our democracy, and then what solves problems for the people who are living paycheck to paycheck, who are struggling in our country.”

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