Adam Hamilton campaign gets over $1M in donations in first week
Adam Hamilton’s U.S. Senate campaign has reportedly received more than $1 million in donations one week after the United Methodist megachurch pastor announced his candidacy.
The 61-year-old founding pastor of Church of the Resurrection and bestselling author announced last week that he is running as a Democrat to represent Kansas in the Senate.
Hamilton’s campaign reported raising $1.01 million from 6,700 donors, according to the Kansas Reflector on Monday. The average contribution was $140.
About 70% of the contributions came from within Kansas, while 20% of the out-of-state donations came from neighboring Missouri, the Reflector reported.
The Kansas Democratic primary is scheduled for Aug. 4. Hamilton is one of several candidates seeking the party’s nomination. The winner will face incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall in the general election.
Hamilton serves as lead pastor of Church of the Resurrection, one of the largest United Methodist Church congregations in the world. He is also known as a theological progressive who supports same-sex marriage.
In February, Hamilton announced that he was launching an exploratory committee and a statewide listening tour to consider a Senate run as an independent candidate.
“Our society is growing more polarized; concern for our fellow Americans, kindness and reasoned dialogue are endangered,” he stated at the time. “The American experiment feels fragile. Families and communities are divided. We are better together and we need leaders who will work to unite us rather than seeking to divide.”
Last Thursday, Hamilton held a press conference in Harmon Park in Prairie Village, where he confirmed that he would run for the Senate. He described himself as an “independent-minded Democrat” who is “dedicated to leading from the center.”
“We need politicians who will actually listen to their constituents, care about the needs of ordinary people and work together to solve problems rather than making them worse,” he added.
Before Hamilton announced his candidacy, the Kansas Republican Party filed an ethics complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that he unlawfully used church resources for his exploratory committee.
Kansas Republican Party Executive Director Rob Fillion said in a statement that the complaint “raises serious questions about the separation between the Church of the Resurrection’s religious mission and partisan political activity.”
“This is a clear and blatant violation of federal law,” Fillion said. “Adam Hamilton and the Church of the Resurrection used church staff time, facilities, databases and communication platforms to launch his political campaign while claiming ‘firewalls’ that were immediately ignored.”
A Hamilton campaign spokesperson told The Christian Post that the complaint was a political move by Marshall and that the video referenced in the complaint was strictly informational and did not urge viewers to support Hamilton’s potential campaign.
“It’s sad but not surprising that a politician like Roger Marshall would choose to launch false political attacks on people of faith and a leading church community in Kansas,” the spokesperson said. “Kansans are tired of politicians like Roger Marshall, who aren’t listening and just keep making things worse in Washington.”
