Marshall says Trump dropping Kansas rally because he is ‘doing so well in the polls’

Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall (R) is defending President Trump’s decision to cancel his rally in the state, saying he can win without a visit from the president.

“I think that I’m doing so well in the polls that he’s got, probably got better places to spend his time,” Marshall told reporters Thursday when asked for his reaction to the president canceling his visit to the Sunflower State.

President Trump has not announced new rallies after he canceled his in-person rallies in Kansas and Iowa, and his last remaining scheduled in-person rally this campaign season is Friday in Florida. He’s opting to do tele-rallies for the rest of his midterm campaigning instead.

The Republican National Committee cited Republicans’ “strong position” in both states when explaining the cancellations.

Recent polls suggest Marshall may not be in a strong position for reelection, even in a state Trump won by more than 15 points in 2024. Three polls of the race released this week show Democrat Adam Hamilton leading Marshall. CNN/SSRS had Hamilton up by 4 points, The Washington Post/George Mason University showed him up by 10 and an Emerson College poll had Hamilton ahead by 3.5 points.

The Sunflower State has not elected a Democrat to the upper chamber in nearly 100 years, though it has elected Democrats for other statewide positions and currently has a Democratic governor, Laura Kelly.

The impact of Trump administration policies may be especially pronounced in a rural and farming-heavy state like Kansas. The Iran war has sent the price of diesel fuel skyrocketing , hovering at an average of $6.32 per gallon nationally and $6.03 per gallon in Kansas, according to AAA.

Driving Hamilton’s lead could be Trump’s approval rating — the Emerson poll found that 51 percent of Kansas likely voters disapproved of the president’s job performance, while 45 percent approved. Marshall’s vote share matched the share of voters who approved of Trump almost exactly in the survey.

Nonpartisan election forecaster Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), a partner of The Hill, now gives Marshall just a 58 percent chance to win reelection, after giving him as high as a 90 percent chance earlier in the cycle.

Overall, DDHQ narrowly forecasts a Democratic Senate majority, giving the party a 60 percent chance to flip the chamber.