LENEXA, KANSAS — The Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the United States, launched a campaign on April 30, 2026, for the Democratic nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Kansas. Hamilton, 61, joined eight other Democrats already announced for the August 4, 2026, primary, with the winner set to face incumbent Republican Roger Marshall in the general election.

Hamilton has not run for public office before. Over the past 35 years, he built the Church of the Resurrection in the Kansas City area to about 22,000 members, with a national following among mainline Protestants. Worshippers initially met in a small chapel of a local funeral home and now gather at nine campuses. The main campus sits on 76 acres in an affluent suburb and resembles a small college.

Hamilton told his congregation that he could bridge partisan divides. "I feel both of these things at the same time," he said, referring to his sense of reluctance and responsibility about entering the race.

Republicans have not lost a U.S. Senate race in Kansas since 1932. In 2020, Democrats challenged Marshall for the Senate seat, but he prevailed by more than 11 percentage points after aligning himself closely with President Donald Trump in that first run.

Hamilton lives in Stillwell, Kansas, on the edge of the Kansas City metropolitan area, in Johnson County, the state's most populous county with 643,000 people, more than one in every five Kansas residents. Johnson County has grown increasingly blue and voted against Trump in the last two presidential elections. Hamilton's congregation is a nearly equal mix of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

Hamilton graduated from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. At age 25, he was tapped by his denomination to start a church in suburban Kansas City for non-churchgoers. He has written and published dozens of books, and in 2013 he preached at the National Prayer Service.

Hamilton voted against a state constitutional amendment that would have cleared the way for tougher abortion restrictions or a ban in Kansas. His church also applied financial pressure before the United Methodist Church conference struck down longstanding anti-LGBTQ policies. "We've lost a thousand people over the years because this was our commitment, and so I want to say that I will take that commitment with me to Washington D.C.," Hamilton said. If he wins, he said, he would remain pastor but scale back his preaching to around 12 to 18 times a year.