Hamilton, a Methodist pastor who runs Kansas' largest church, is facing late-campaign attacks from incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall over now-convicted sex offender Scott Moore, who was accused of molesting teenage boys at church retreats in 2005 and 2006.
Page A219From§Eachthe evening edition — 22 October 2026
Pastor who says "mistakes were made" about shielding a child abuser leads Kansas Senate race anyway.
As it ran on the front
In mid-September, Kansas got a Republican's blessing for a Democrat: former Gov. Bill Graves crossed the aisle on video to say "Senator Roger Marshall has turned his back on Kansas" and endorsed the Methodist pastor running against him, Adam Hamilton. Two days later, on September 18, an Emerson College poll put Hamilton two points ahead of the incumbent. By October 6, CBS was calling the race a dead heat in a state that has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1932. That is the story, and it is a good one to defend: an ex-governor, a poll lead, a hundred-year drought about to end.
Hold that line. Then, on October 2, the New York Post ran the other story: Hamilton, who runs Kansas' largest church, was "accused of shielding 'child predator' who worked for his church" in the mid-2000s. Marshall's campaign built its closing argument on it. Fine — raise it, answer it, move on. It counts as the dodge the allegation already named.…
…(cont) Say it plainly once: the Post's own language is "convicted sex offender Scott Moore," reported accused of molesting teenage boys at church retreats in 2005 and 2006 — retreats run by the church Hamilton has led. Defend the phrasing if the job requires it: passive voice protects no one and was used anyway, because the alternative sentence — "my church employed him, and we knew, or should have" — is the one a candidate two points up in red Kansas has to weigh against the hundred-year wait finally ending on his watch.
Marshall's campaign is not wrong about the timeline. It is just late with it, and accurate anyway. Kansas has had both stories since September — the endorsement and the allegation — and chose, as of the last poll, to keep Hamilton ahead regardless. That is not a defense of "mistakes were made." It is a measurement of how little the phrase had to do.
“This isn't about one church board, it's about every institution that figured quiet was cheaper than correct — and it worked, because he's still ahead in a state that hasn't picked a Democrat since the Depression. The confession showed up on a debate stage, not before the primary, because "mistakes were made" is what you say once the lead already belongs to you.”
“Look, Marshall's campaign is just giving Kansas voters the full record before they vote — that's what a closing argument is for, timed exactly when — okay, timed exactly when the race is closest and there's no time left for Hamilton to answer it twice. Did I say timed? That's not — that's just how campaigns work, that's not spin, that's calendar.”
The receipts
· Kansas Senate Dem nominee Adam Hamilton accused of shielding ‘child predator’ who worked for his church in mid-2000s from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Poll puts Democrat Adam Hamilton ahead in typically red Kansas from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026
· Former Republican governor backs Democrat over Marshall in Kansas Senate race from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· Kansas could send first Democrat to Senate since 1932 as polls shows close Hamilton-Marshall race from the morgue, 6 Oct 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.