It’s Official: Roger Marshall, Adam Hamilton Debate at the Kansas State Fair
HUTCHINSON, KANSAS | It’s official: Senator Roger Marshall and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton will face off on the Kansas State Fair stage on Saturday, September 12, at 1:30 p.m.
Adam Hamilton formally invited Roger Marshall to debate on the famous State Fair stage in Hutchinson, where a gubernatorial debate was scheduled, but no senatorial debate had been confirmed. Now, Kansas voters will get the chance to see the two candidates debate in front of a live audience.
Marshall responded to Hamilton in a letter, writing:
“Instead of writing press releases, we’ve been actively working with several news outlets to host and moderate a new debate at the fair,” Marshall wrote. “The State Fair is the perfect setting for you to explain to Kansas ranchers why you called cattle a source of ‘more carbon dioxide’ and said you’re ‘calling us to repentance, maybe changing your diet.’”
Marshall posted the letter to X with the caption:“Looking forward to the debate.”
A report from the Sunflower Journal says that representatives from each campaign said a debate between the two candidates will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 12. Earlier in the day, a debate between Republican Senate President Ty Masterson and Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher is planned.
Date: Between 1960 and 1970
The State Fair debate is more than just another event. For decades, it has been one of the places where Kansas voters have traditionally seen major candidates face each other in person, in front of an actual Kansas crowd. It’s not a fundraiser. It’s not a private room full of donors.
Anyone running to represent Kansas should be willing to stand on a stage in Kansas, in front of Kansans, and answer their questions—and, more importantly, explain why they should earn your vote. It is a tradition deeply woven into Kansas political culture. The 2018 Lawrence Journal-World explicitly called State Fair debates a “staple of Kansas politics for decades.”
U.S. Senate
Bob Dole vs. Bill Roy
Governor
Bill Graves vs. Jim Slattery
Governor
Bill Graves, Tom Sawyer & others
U.S. Senate
Pat Roberts vs. Jim Slattery
Governor
Sam Brownback vs. Tom Holland
U.S. Senate
Pat Roberts vs. Greg Orman
Governor
Brownback vs. Davis
Governor
Laura Kelly, Kris Kobach & Greg Orman
U.S. Senate
Roger Marshall vs. Barbara Bollier
Moved off-site because of COVID
Governor
Laura Kelly vs. Derek Schmidt
U.S. Senate
Roger Marshall vs. Adam Hamilton
After abruptly walking out of his Oakley town hall in 2025, Senator Roger Marshall has not held a single fully public event since.
In 2020, the U.S. Senate debate between Roger Marshall and Barbara Bollier would have taken place at the Kansas State Fair. COVID-19 caused most State Fair activities to be canceled, so the debate was moved to a radio/virtual format. But the Kansas Reflector explicitly reported that the debate “ordinarily would be conducted with a live audience at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson.” That shows how strong this event is as an established Kansas political tradition—one that organizers deliberately tried to preserve even when the Fair itself could not take place. Organizers said they wanted to continue the tradition of hosting one of the first debates before the general election.
The Kansas State Fair brings together Kansans from every corner of the state — farmers, ranchers, families, students, small-business owners, and communities from across Kansas.
That makes it exactly the kind of place where candidates for Kansas should answer questions about the future of the state they want to represent.
Date: September 1980.
Governor John Carlin and George Wingert at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Visit the State Fair’s website, grab tickets, and plan your visit to Hutchinson below:
