Adam Hamilton
D · U.S. Senate, Kansas · Tier 3
Tier 3, “Pro-Israel, critical”
He is the founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, running as a self-described moderate and 'independent-minded Democrat' (announced Apr 2026 after exploring an independent bid). The first of his documented Israel statements is an Oct 2023 pastoral reflection written while a Holy Land trip he was leading was diverted by the Oct 7 attacks: he condemned Hamas as 'reprehensible' and called the Israeli government and people's 'anger and moral outrage' 'understandable and appropriate,' but in the same breath prayed the Israeli government 'does not violate its own moral code in bringing about an even greater slaughter of civilians,' said the underlying issues fueling the conflict must be addressed, noted many Palestinians in Gaza do not support Hamas, wrote “I stand with Israel’s right to exist and its right to defend itself” but also “with Palestinians who, for a variety of reasons, live as second-class citizens in the land where they have lived for hundreds of years,” and described praying “at the Israeli security wall where it surrounds Bethlehem.” In an October 2026 interview with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns he said “I don’t want my tax money being used for weapons that are going to be dropped on hospitals, destroying entire communities”; pressed on whether he would vote to stop weapons transfers, he said “not all weapons transfers,” which Jewish Insider reports as ending offensive aid while exempting defensive weapons. He called Israel’s conduct in Gaza “irresponsible and unjust” but declined the word genocide: “I don’t think that is Israel’s intent, is to wipe out a group of people.” In a KSN-TV candidate questionnaire published October 14, 2026, he backed “a negotiated two-state agreement,” called Hamas’s October 7 attack “evil,” and wrote, “I also mourn the humanitarian disaster that has unfolded in Gaza ever since, and the tens of thousands killed there. Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank deserve to live with dignity, free from violence or harassment”; the answer says nothing about weapons. At the final debate with Sen. Roger Marshall on October 21, 2026, asked whether he would have voted to block an April 2026 sale of 12,000 bombs to Israel that Senate Democrats tried to stop, he said: “I believe in providing a strong defense for Israel. They are our allies,” but Israel is “using our aid to buy our weapons and then dropping them on innocent civilians. That’s just not okay. It’s not decent. It’s not who we are as Americans. And so I don’t support that.” No AIPAC money. At a bus-tour stop in Holton in the campaign’s last week, asked by a voter about AIPAC money, he said, “I don’t take AIPAC money, and I’m not endorsed by AIPAC, and I’m not taking corporate PAC money,” adding that he wants to “get money out of politics” (The American Prospect, October 30, 2026).
A 3, on a thin record: an October 2023 pastoral reflection, one October 2026 interview, an October 2026 questionnaire and his final October 2026 debate. His weapons position, in his own words at the October 21 debate, is a cut aimed at harm to civilians that keeps Israel armed: “I believe in providing a strong defense for Israel,” but Israel is “using our aid to buy our weapons and then dropping them on innocent civilians … And so I don’t support that.” In the POLITICO interview he said “I don’t want my tax money being used for weapons that are going to be dropped on hospitals, destroying entire communities,” and, pressed on whether he would vote to stop weapons transfers, “not all weapons transfers,” which Jewish Insider reports as ending offensive aid while exempting defensive weapons. He called Israel’s conduct in Gaza “irresponsible and unjust” and said its actions “feel genocidal,” though he declined the word genocide: “I don’t think that is Israel’s intent.” Beside that he keeps a pro-Israel frame in words — in 2023 he wrote “I stand with Israel’s right to exist and its right to defend itself,” alongside Palestinians who “live as second-class citizens” — and his October 2026 KSN-TV questionnaire keeps to it, with “a negotiated two-state agreement” and mourning for “the tens of thousands killed” in Gaza. No vote or official act of his stands behind either side. Counter-case: 3/4, on the “feel genocidal” words and his objection to weapons “dropped on hospitals.”
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elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).