In American religious life, Pastor Adam Hamilton commands a large "pulpit." The Church of the Resurrection, which he founded, is considered the largest United Methodist congregation in the country, spanning nine locations with 23,000 members. Hamilton himself has published more than 30 books.
But this November, Hamilton is aiming for a bigger platform: the United States Congress. With the calm bearing of a pastor, square-framed glasses and silver hair swept back, he is setting out to do what many political observers have long dismissed as a fantasy: win a Senate seat representing Kansas as a Democratic candidate.
No Democratic candidate has won a Senate race in this Midwestern state since 1932. Kansas is considered deep red, with a conservative electorate that leans toward right-wing leaders such as President Donald Trump.
Yet Hamilton is not alone. He is part of a trend in the 2026 midterm cycle: mainly in states that lean Republican, a number of Christian leaders are running for office as Democrats, challenging the notion that religion is the preserve of the right.
By one count, about nine Democratic religious leaders, seminary students and Sunday school teachers are running for federal office in the November 3 vote. At least a dozen appeared on ballots in primaries earlier this year.
Many of them are running in states such as Iowa, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee — places with a tradition of backing right-leaning candidates in statewide elections. Their campaigns raise the question of whether winning over Christian voters could become a path to victory for Democrats in a fiercely contested midterm cycle.
Pastor Shannon Fleck, executive director of Faithful America, a progressive Christian advocacy group, said a segment of voters has gradually lost faith in the Republican Party's exclusive claim to represent religious values. Democratic candidates, she said, can offer an alternative.
"This will create even more of a shift in red states, because in our own families, faith has been part of life for generations, but it has also been manipulated by leaders for generations," said Fleck, who lives in Oklahoma.
She stressed that faith-inspired Democratic candidates have "more opportunity to create change" in right-leaning states, "because we know the alternative all too well."
