Commentary: A Pastor Won Kansas, and Real Christians Chose to Be the Light

Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist pastor branded a heretic by the Christian right, became the first Democrat Kansas has sent to the Senate since 1932. His win, and the Democratic sweep around it, answers a false gospel that has been preached from too many pulpits.

KANSAS CITY, Kansas · November 4, 2026 at 3:30 PM Pacific · By the Gospel Desk, Gospel News Access

At a glance

Senator-elect

Adam Hamilton (D), founding pastor, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection

Defeated

Sen. Roger Marshall (R)

History

First Democrat elected to the Senate from Kansas since 1932

Other people of faith who won

James Talarico (Texas, Senate); Rev. Frederick Haynes III (Texas, U.S. House); Rob Sand (Iowa, governor)

National result

Democrats win the House and a Senate majority

Sources

Associated Press via NPR and OPB; Baptist News Global; Christian Post; NBC News; CBS News

THIS IS COMMENTARY from the Gospel Desk. The facts in it are reported; the conviction is ours.

UPDATED Nov. 5: Keisha Lance Bottoms has won the Georgia governor's race after Republican Rick Jackson conceded, the first Black woman ever elected governor of a U.S. state. The Senate races in Mississippi and Alaska are still being counted.

On Tuesday night a pastor won Kansas. Adam Hamilton, founding pastor of the 25,000-member United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, defeated Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, a fierce loyalist to President Trump, according to the Associated Press. No Democrat had won a Kansas Senate seat since 1932. Hamilton plans to keep serving his church, scaling back from full-time to quarter-time.

He did not win by hiding his faith. He won by refusing to weaponize it. "I'm not running for the Senate to make everybody in this country Christian or United Methodist," he said on the campaign trail. He promised to "fight for the rights of all people, whether they have any faith or not." Asked by NPR what drove his victory, he pointed to rising costs, tariffs and the war in Iran, and to Americans "sick and tired of the hyperpolarization in Washington."

For that, the Christian right called him a heretic. His opponents attacked his church for welcoming LGBTQ people. Kansas listened, and Kansas chose the pastor.

THE FALSE NARRATIVE. For years a counterfeit gospel has moved through American churches: that faithfulness means loyalty to one man and one party, that the cross belongs wrapped in a flag, that the nation's God is whoever sits in the Oval Office. That is not the faith of the Gospels. It is Christian nationalism, and too many sanctuaries traded the Sermon on the Mount for a campaign rally to preach it.

Scripture is plain about what Christ asks of us. "For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me" (Matthew 25:35-36). He did not say: close the border to the stranger. He did not say: worship power. He said, "Ye are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). The church's calling is to save souls and serve the least of these, not to crown a king.

ON TUESDAY, MANY CHRISTIANS MADE THAT CHOICE. Hamilton was not alone. In Texas, James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian who quotes Scripture and credits his faith for his politics, won a U.S. Senate seat, the first Texas Democrat to do so since 1988. In Dallas, the Rev. Frederick Haynes III, senior pastor of a Baptist congregation, won a seat in the U.S. House. In Iowa, Rob Sand, who spoke often of his faith on the trail, won the governorship. Baptist News Global counted six progressive Christian leaders among the night's winners.

Around them, Democrats won control of the House and a majority in the Senate, flipped governor's mansions in Texas, Georgia, Ohio and Iowa, and in Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms won, becoming the first Black woman ever elected governor of any state.

This is not a victory for one party over another in the eyes of God. It is a reminder that the faith was never owned by a party in the first place. Real Christians have a choice. On Tuesday, many chose to be the light.

The Senate contests in Mississippi and Alaska are still too close to call. Gospel News Access will report the final results.