In America’s conservative heartland of Kansas, Democrats dream of victory

Democrats in the largely rural, conservative US state of Kansas are hoping they can exploit voter discontent with President Donald Trump and send a Democrat to the Senate — a feat that hasn’t been achieved since 1932.

“I’m really optimistic for the first time in a while,” said Travis Falstad, 53, a rare left-leaning voter in Neosho County, in the heart of the Great Plains.

Two years ago, 73 percent of voters in this county supported the Republican Trump. But white yard signs bearing the name of Adam Hamilton, the Democratic candidate for Senate, can be seen here and there.

Kansas isn’t the only state previously considered out of reach where the Democrats are daring to dream of winning in the midterm elections on November 3.

Energized by favorable polls, the Democratic Party is working to mobilize voters, even in traditionally right-leaning areas, capitalizing on angst over soaring living costs, exacerbated by the Iran war, and low approval ratings for Trump.

“I think people are just desperate for a bit of normalcy,” Falstad said, a baseball cap perched on his head in front of a Walmart.

‘A centrist is fine’

Beside him, his wife, Beth Ann, takes a pragmatic approach.

The Democratic candidates in Kansas “are pretty centrist,” she noted, like Hamilton, the pastor of a megachurch who until recently was registered as a Republican and has emphasized his moderate stance on many issues — as well as a desire to bring decency back to Washington.

“A centrist is fine with us,” she said, because “if we tried to field a progressive candidate, it would be a lost cycle because it will just ricochet back to where we are now,” a reference to deeply polarized politics in America.

“And if we can salvage our democracy, fantastic,” she added.

In a sign of Republican unease about Kansas, Trump traveled to the state last week, his first trip there since 2018, to rally support for the incumbent, Republican Senator Roger Marshall.

That rally was not intended to change anyone’s mind, said Don Haider-Markel, a political science professor at the University of Kansas.

It was “meant to excite what are now unenthusiastic Republican voters and get them to turn out to vote,” he said.

Frustrated by soaring prices, a significant portion of conservative voters may simply not vote, Haider-Markel said, while more moderate voters and independents who aren’t registered with either political party may support a more centrist candidate like Hamilton.

Hamilton is a newcomer to politics, and this year there’s a wave of anti-establishment sentiment across the country, the professor said.

Disillusioned

Although he hasn’t made up his mind yet who he’ll vote for, Daniel Dwire, a 52-year-old convenience store manager, doesn’t hide his disappointment with Trump, whom he has supported since 2016.

“The first time Trump was in office, it was great,” he said.

But Trump’s second term in office and the war he started with Iran — “We should have never stuck our nose in it” — have left Dwire disillusioned.

With gas at $4 a gallon, customers are becoming scarcer at the gas station attached to his store, as are sales of snacks and drinks, forcing him to reduce his staff.

“I don’t see as many people taking vacations anymore. They’re not making the money like they’re supposed to, and everything else is going up,” he said.

Asked if surging gas prices will influence his vote, Dwire said it would.

Others, like Dan Platt, a 64-year-old man who works three days a week in construction to make ends meet, definitely planned to vote for Republicans.

Platt acknowledged that while gas prices were hurting his wallet, Trump made him feel proud to be American.

“I fly the flag in front of my house, and it’s American pride for sure. And I didn’t have all that when Joe Biden was in office,” he said, beer in hand while watching a Kansas City Chiefs football game on TV.

Dusty, a cattle rancher, echoed this sentiment, despite being deeply affected by rising fuel prices.

“I mean, $6 (a gallon) diesel, it hurts — but there’s a lot of other things in the world that’s going to hurt worse if we don’t stand up for terrorism,” he said. “It’s the price of freedom.”