Oops! Kansas Dems did it again.

By J. Basil Dannebohm

The voters have spoken. Evidently, the Reverend Adam Hamilton's folksy, “I’m not a politician,” schtick and vague platform were sufficient to persuade Kansas Democrats he was the right candidate in a crowded senate race.

I think they wet the bed. In fact, I think they took an epic, mattress soaking piss all over the bed with no rubber sheet to prevent the aftermath.

There were two candidates in that race who were qualified to take on Senator Roger Marshall. Despite his mysteriously meteoric rise and impressive, albeit interesting fundraising efforts, Rev. Hamilton was not one of them.

Hamilton's platform lacks substance, focusing heavily on human decency, compassion, and a "moderate, independent-minded" approach to governing. He leans on faith-based values, urging voters to focus on his character and religious background.

How quaint.

But this isn’t Sunday School. This is politics, and politics in our nation’s capital can get really freakin’ brutal. As former President Harry Truman said, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”

On April 24, 2026, in a rare argument for the separation of Church and State, the Kansas Republican Party filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) claiming Hamilton and the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood violated federal campaign finance laws. The complaint states that Hamilton used the church’s official website, YouTube channel, internal email lists, and staff to announce and promote his potential Senate bid.

Back then, Hamilton claimed he was an Independent.

The filing argues that these actions equate to prohibited in-kind corporate contributions from a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to a federal candidate.

Representatives for Hamilton and the church denied wrongdoing, stating that the political material was strictly informative to let congregants know how his exploratory steps might affect the ministry.

Frankly, that's a load of tripe.

Knowing the Kansas GOP intimately well, I'm nearly certain they have an arsenal of Hamilton attacks ready for deployment. I suspect this was the candidate they were hoping would clench the Democratic nomination. The left’s perceived political savior who figuratively rode into the race on a donkey could very well end up looking like an ass.

It feels like a political Twilight Zone: Kansas Republicans encouraging the separation of Church and State, while a “Democrat” leverages the pulpit to push a hollow platform.

In his book, "Postcards from Babylon: The Church in American Exile," author Brian Zahnd writes, "When we see faith leaders fawning over proximity to political power, don’t we feel the falseness of their faith? Don’t we know that they too have secretly confessed, 'We have no king but Caesar'? Woe to them!"

Woe, indeed.

Jesus called these individuals vipers. Several of the Founding Fathers were staunch proponents of the separation of Church and State. I agree with Christ and the framers of the Constitution: Reverend Hamilton has no place in politics.

Nevertheless, the left will rally around their candidate. Deep down they realize that in a ruby red behemoth like Kansas they didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell in the first place. It’s been 94 years since a Democrat has won a Senate seat in the Sunflower State. Thus, for the left, Hamilton will suffice.

What I find bewildering is the fact that as a former GOP state legislator, who has been an Independent for the last decade, I am by far more liberal than most Kansas Democrats. I repeat: Our present reality feels like a political Twilight Zone.

My words should not be mistaken as an endorsement for Senator Marshall. Though he is literally and scripturally the lesser of two evils, as the late Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead fame once said, “Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.”

No, this is not an endorsement. This is yet another disappointed diatribe aimed at Democrats who never seem to learn a damn thing from their political missteps.

Abraham Lincoln once quipped, “Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters."

In November, Kansas voters will face the flames of a precarious, Catch-22 decision between a wolf and a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Either way, they're plagued with six long, painful years of blisters.