By Anna Kaminski
TOPEKA — Ford, Finney and Seward counties in western Kansas historically haven’t been Democratic strongholds.
But three cities in each county are home to large Latino populations, in part because of meatpacking industry jobs, and those three cities were hit recently with sweeping federal immigration raids that led to children not showing up to school, delayed start times at meatpacking plants and instigated fear across the communities.
Republicans, in the wake of these immigration raids, doubled down on the need for immigration enforcement. Meanwhile, Democrats were quick to condemn the effects of the raids and paid visits to Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal.
Democrats’ efforts paid off. While official data is still pending, early indications show Latino and Black voters across the state boosted Democratic candidates’ vote totals, leading to historic victories.
Among the Republicans who ran on strict immigration enforcement was U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, the incumbent who lost to Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton, and Attorney General Kris Kobach, who, by early indications, lost his reelection bid to Democratic attorney Chris Mann.
Around half or more of registered voters in Finney, Ford and Seward counties are Latino, according to state voting data. Hamilton won all three, along with eight other counties to secure his victory.
Hamilton said in his victory speech Tuesday night that he supports immigration enforcement, but only on the grounds that it does what it was created to do.
“That is to keep dangerous people from blowing up buildings and hurting people,” he said. “They were not commissioned to arrest preschool teachers in front of their children.”
He said one woman told him that when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up in western Kansas, parents didn’t pick up their children from school because they were afraid.
“Those children just stayed there at school,” Hamilton said. “This was not OK.”
At the time, Marshall encouraged local and federal law enforcement to work together while Hamilton said something had “gone very wrong” to incite fear among schoolchildren and shutter local businesses.
While results in three statewide races, including the governor’s race and the attorney general’s race, are undergoing an audit, unofficial results showed Democrat Cindy Holscher and Mann leading. Mann visited cities in western Kansas multiple times on the campaign trail, and won Finney and Seward counties, in addition to more traditional Democratic strongholds near Wichita and Kansas City, per unofficial vote counts. Holscher appeared to win Seward County, home to Liberal.
Mann said in a statement after the election he thought his efforts to traverse 50,000-plus miles across 75 counties made a “real difference” in the race. Those trips also involved sitting down with law enforcement, farmers, business owners and community leaders, he said.
“In every community I’ve gone to, Kansans have made it clear they are tired of politics as usual,” he said. “They want their elected leaders to show up, and to listen.”
A Democrat also won in a state House race in Garden City, defeating Republican incumbent Bob Lewis, who had served since 2023.
6 months, 3 counties, 1 win
Latino voters make up 49% of registered voters in Ford County, 48% in Finney County and 60% in Seward County, according to data from Ike Lab, a voting data and analysis site by professors at Wichita State University. Registered Democrats only make up between 23% and 24% of voters in each county.
According to a New York Times voter trend analysis, 75% of Latino voters in Kansas voted for Hamilton.
Melissa Morales, president and founder of Somos PAC, a political advocacy arm of the Latino voter engagement group Somos Votantes, said on election night other Democratic candidates should take note of Hamilton’s campaign.
“Today, hardworking Kansans showed up at the ballot box to collect on a long-overdue debt: promises that were never delivered,” Morales said.
She said Somos was the only political group talking to voters in Latino-heavy areas in the state.
“Kansas’s motto, ‘Ad Astra per Aspera’, rings truer tonight, when voters in one of the reddest states in the country lived it,” Morales said. “Today, we are one step closer to that promise.”
Hamilton in his victory speech hypothesized how in six months — from when he declared in late April to Election Day — he was able to get elected.
“I think I got elected because Kansans were saying we’re tired of the bullies. We’re tired of the chaos,” Hamilton said. “There are a lot of Kansans saying, ‘Let’s love our neighbors as we love ourselves.’ See, Kansans are decent people. They’re good people. They care about each other. That’s who we are in Kansas.”
