DODGE CITY, Kan. — President Donald Trump’s closing midterm campaign blitz will take him to the red states of Kansas and Iowa where there are unexpectedly close races for the U.S. Senate on Sunday.
Trump has long enjoyed intense support from rural and farming communities, but locals in Dodge City saaid the effects of the president’s policies could be fueling a political shift.
Dodge City is the cattle capital of the U.S., so it feels the brunt of any agriculture policy decision made in Washington. Trump has made a lot of those over the last two years and residents said it’s part of the reason a Democrat could win the Senate race in Kansas for the first time in 94 years.
“This part of kansas feeds the country and feeds the world, honestly, and it relies a lot on immigrant labor,” said Alejandro Rangel-Lopez, a Dodge City community organizer.
Cows outnumber people in the town and beef-packing plants and feedyards fuel the local economy, so when federal immigration agents showed up in September on orders from Trump, panic spread, and unusually large protests followed.
“It’s really kind of sucked the soul out of our community,” Rangel-Lopez said.
Dodge City is majority-Hispanic and many in that population make up the 10,000 meat-packers. Martin Rosas represents the local union, UFCW Local 2.
“A lot of people were afraid to go to work and send their kids to school. But not only go to work, they’re afraid to go out in the community because they’re afraid that they’re gonna be pulled over just because the way they look,” he said.
The September ICE raids drew concern not just from Democrats, but prominent local republicans.
(Gary harshberger/dodge city farmer and business owner)
“Because there’s the uncertainty, a lot of those workers didn’t go to work. Restaurants around the town shut down. But that also hurts the beef industry because cattlemen here could not sell their cattle to the plants and bases dropped by $5,” said Gary Harshberger, a Dodge City farmer and business owner.
“A lot happened then that — we’d look back at and maybe things would be done differently. But there have been a lot of people voting early,” added Scott Fischer, the chairman of the Ford County GOP.
The raids got people talking, but they were the latest in a series of challenges to the agriculture hub. The war in Iran has raised gas and diesel prices, trade wars have brought about new tariffs and the president decided to import foreign beef at a discount.
“That’s why the race is so close between Marshall and Hamilton. One of the reasons is because of some of that damage the Trump policies have done,” said Bob Beatty, a professor at Washburn University.
Beatty is referring to the Senate race between Republican Sen. Roger marshall and Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton. Trump won kansas by more than 16 points in 2024, but the Senate race this year is a toss-up and Kansas democrats think they’re on the cusp of winning for the first time since 1932.
Fischer called it an unusual race in deeply-red Kansas.
“I think Marshall’s done alright. Again, this environment we’re in right now, there’s a lot going on. I think he’s done alright for us,” he said.
Marshall has faced scrutiny for being an absent senator who votes blindly with Trump, but he still has supporters like Harshberger.
“If he has missions in line with Trump, then that’s because that’s the way he thinks,” he said. “We know we’re going to have to go through a little bit of pain to finally resurrect and cure some of the problems that have been created over the decades.”
But Hamilton has crafted a moderate message that analysts said is resonating with more than just Kansas Democrats.
“You also have to win a majority of independents. And ideally, you can also win over some of those moderate Republicans. And Adam Hamilton is really doing a good job at this,” said Alex Middlewood, a professor at Wichita State University.
Diesel remains high in Dodge City, the streets are quieter because of fear and the challenges for ranchers still are compounding. Jose Del Real, an accidental activist from the protests, thinks it will fuel people to vote against Marshall as an act against Trump, who won the county by almost 40 points.
“We’re hoping that this turnout will be indicative of the response to his practices, to his administration,” he said.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance have made several campaign trips to Kansas in recent weeks, something the state rarely sees, but they haven’t come Dodge City.
Source: spectrumlocalnews.com
