Kansas voters sour on Trump over economy
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The gist
Democrats flipped 20 Kansas House seats and won both chambers of Congress as voters blamed Trump for inflation.
About two-thirds of midterm voters said his own policies fueled rising costs.
Background
Donald Trump is the U.S. president, who campaigned in Kansas for Republican Sen. Roger Marshall ahead of the 2026 midterms. Consumer prices are up 3.7% over the past 12 months, versus 3% when Trump began his second term, even as the S&P 500 is up more than 10% this year and unemployment sits at 4.2%. Voters cited the February launch of Trump's war with Iran, which spiked energy costs, and his tariffs on foreign imports as reasons for souring on the economy.
How it unfolded
- Feb 2026Trump launched a war with Iran; energy costs spiked after the launch.
- Mar 10, 2026Trump voters at an Iowa gas station expressed unhappiness as the Iran war drove up prices; Trump said the war would bring lower oil and gas prices.
- Sep 2026Unannounced immigration enforcement operations took place at meatpacking plants in Finney, Ford and Seward counties, Kansas. An AP/KFF poll found about half of rural American voters believe the economy is worse off than when Trump first returned to office.
- Oct 19, 2026Trump spoke at a campaign event in Park City, Kansas.
- Oct 25, 2026Trump pledged $8 billion in new aid to farmers announced in Kansas and offered $5,000 to every adult American if Republicans retain Washington.
- Nov 1, 2026Trump held an outdoor rally at the airport in Salina, Kansas, after calling off a Saturday rally there when polling indicated Democrat Adam Hamilton held an advantage over Sen. Roger Marshall.
- Nov 3, 2026Midterm elections were held. An NBC News exit poll found 75% said the economy is in rough shape, 65% said Trump's policies worsened economic conditions, and 39% rated the economy the most important issue.
- Nov 4, 2026Trump told reporters the Iran war "drove the gasoline up a little bit short-term" but said "If I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again." Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress and flipped 20 seats in the Kansas House of Representatives.
- Nov 5, 2026An AP Voter Poll of roughly 100,000 midterm voters found about two-thirds said Trump's own policies fueled inflation, and about 9 in 10 said cost of living was a "crucial" or "major" factor.
Key terms
- midterm
- US general elections held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term, when all House seats and about a third of Senate seats are contested.
- exit poll
- A survey of voters taken just after they leave polling stations, used to estimate how an election is turning out.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Trump said "I've done a great job. Prices are coming way down," and defended the Iran war as worth it despite short-term gasoline increases.
- Analysts
- AP and NBC exit polls found most voters said Trump's own policies smothered growth and drove costs higher, and blamed him for high prices.
- Party
- Sen. Roger Marshall told a rally "Your anger doesn't count unless it's at the ballot box... On Sundays we pray, but on Tuesday we vote."
- Expert
- Wichita State political scientist Alexandra Middlewood called Democrats flipping 20 Kansas House seats "insane" and tied county flips at least in part to the September meatpacking-plant enforcement operations.
- Public
- Voters of Tomorrow executive director Santiago Meyer said young people felt "betrayed" by Trump's economic policies.
Still unverified
Alexandra Middlewood said the correlation between September voter registration increases in flipped counties and the ICE raids "is there," and that the meatpacking-plant flips can "at least in part" be attributed to the enforcement operations.