Major Election Forecaster Shifts Kansas Senate Race To Toss Up For Seat Dems Haven’t Held Since FDR

Cook Political Report, a prominent elections forecaster, shifted the Kansas Senate race Tuesday from leaning Republican to a “toss up.”

The new rating came as Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall held only a 0.4% lead against Democratic Kansas Senate candidate Adam Hamilton as of Sunday. Cook Political Report also shifted the Senate races in North Carolina and New Hampshire toward Democrats.

Kansas last elected a Democrat to the Senate in November 1932, when former Democratic Kansas Sen. George McGill won reelection. He left office on Jan. 3, 1939, marking the last time a Democratic senator represented Kansas.

The Republican Party controls the office of the attorney general, Secretary of State and both chambers of the state Legislature. The Democratic Party controls the office of the governor.

Marshall faced scrutiny over a report that he sued 700 patients for outstanding medical bills during his time as an OB-GYN, which led to 81 arrests, The New York Times reported in September. The unpaid bills ranged from several thousand dollars to as little as $101.

Marshall’s campaign did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Republican political action committees (PACs) paused or cut spending from battleground states, such as North Carolina and Georgia, and poured large sums of money into Kansas and other red states. The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the main GOP super PAC, invested $14 million in an ad campaign during the week of Oct. 5 to defend Marshall while he holds a small lead in the polls.

Democrats outspent Republicans in general election ad spending in Kansas, as Democrats spent $8.2 million and Republicans spent $7 million, according to AdImpact Politics.

The Senate campaign arm paused spending in North Carolina after pouring $32 million in the race between Republican North Carolina Senate nominee Michael Whatley and former Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. Polls found Cooper leading Whatley by an average of nine points, according to RealClearPolling.