Marshall practiced medicine as an obstetrician for more than 25 years[2] before being elected to Congress in 2016. He was reelected in 2018 and elected to the U.S. Senate in 2020. He is running for reelection in 2026 and faces Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton in the general.
In 1998, Marshall and eight other doctors opened Great Bend Regional Medical Center in Great Bend, Kansas, where he worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist. From 1998 to 2012 he was owner and 2013 to 2019 co-owner of Heartland Regional OBGYN.[10]
According to a September 2026 New York Times report, Marshall charged patients an 18% annual interest rate on medical debt, and he and Heartland Regional sued more than 700 patients for bills ranging from $101 to thousands of dollars. Reportedly at the request of Marshall's lawyers, at least 81 defendants were arrested for not appearing in court.[10]
Marshall responded to that report by saying his medical firm only used "common business practices", calling the report a "hit job".[11] His spokesperson said he treated all patients regardless of ability to pay, that he welcomed Medicaid patients, that his firm used standard billing and collection procedures, and that his firm provided millions of dollars in free medical care.[12]
During the primary, Huelskamp criticized Marshall over a 2008 confrontation with a neighbor during a land dispute. The neighbor accused Marshall in a 911 call of trying to run him over with his truck.[19] The Barton County Sheriff's Office filed a complaint charging Marshall with battery and reckless driving. Prosecutor Carey Fleske dropped the battery charge as part of plea negotiations, and Marshall pleaded no contest to reckless driving.[20] On Christmas Eve, Fleske (whose father was Marshall's business partner and neighbor) obtained a court order from a different judge who was available, replacing the conviction with a minor traffic infraction on the basis that the earlier documents had been typed up incorrectly.[20]
On August 2, Marshall defeated Huelskamp in the Republican primary, 56% to 44%. No Democrat filed to run in the heavily Republican district.[17] In the general election, Marshall defeated independent candidate Alan LaPolice and Libertarian Kerry Burt with 65.9% of the vote.
Tenure
Marshall was sworn into office by House Speaker Paul Ryan on January 3, 2017.[21]
On October 23, 2019, Marshall was part of a group of 15–30 House Republicans, led by Representative Matt Gaetz, who intruded upon that day's confidential hearing of the House Intelligence Committee. The Republican and Democratic committee members were meeting in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) to hear testimony from Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper in connection with the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.[24] Marshall was one of a group of Republicans that followed Gaetz to the hearing room.[25] Marshall called the impeachment inquiry a "sham" and contended that "the people of Kansas are sick and tired of these impeachment hearings."[25]
In September 2019, Marshall announced he would give up his House seat to run for the Senate seat being vacated by four-term incumbent Pat Roberts.[27] In the Republican primary election, Marshall faced Kris Kobach, a polarizing ex-Kansas Secretary of State and Donald Trump ally[28] known for his far-right views.[29] Senate Republican leaders, fearing that Kobach's nomination would endanger their majority in the Senate,[28][29] urged Trump to endorse Marshall; Trump did not.[28] The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Farm Bureau and several anti-abortion organizations supported Marshall.[28] The National Republican Senatorial Committee launched a major voter contact effort ("Operation Scorched Prairie") on Marshall's behalf making 2.3 million unique voter contacts via text and robocalls in the week before the election.[28]
The rival campaigns and outside groups (super PACs) spent millions in attack ads; the primary was anticipated to be close, but Marshall ultimately won by 14.2 percentage points with 40.3% of the vote, although the second-place finisher (Kobach) and third-place finisher (Kansas City based plumber Bob Hamilton) combined for a higher total.[30][31] Marshall won all but one county west of Emporia. In Sedgwick County, which contains Wichita, he beat Kobach 47% to 26%. He lost by a majority in Wyandotte County, which contains Kansas City, and by pluralities in most counties in eastern Kansas.[30] In the general election, Marshall defeated Democratic State Senator Barbara Bollier 53% to 42%, with the Libertarian Jason Buckley receiving 5%.[32] In so doing, he continued a long line of former congressmen from the "Big First" subsequently representing Kansas in the Senate; due to its vast size, the district's congressman is usually reckoned as a statewide political figure. He succeeded Roberts, who represented the 1st from 1981 to 1997; Kansas's senior senator, Jerry Moran, represented the district from 1997 to 2011.
Marshall voted in line with Trump's positions 98% of the time.[35][36]
Abortion
Marshall opposes abortion, including in cases of rape and incest.[37][38][39] In 2020, he called for overturning Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled abortion bans unconstitutional.[37]
In 2022, shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs case, Marshall endorsed exceptions to abortion bans that would permit abortion to preserve the mother's life. During a Senate committee hearing, he said: "women with miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies will be treated in every state without exception. Life of the mom will continue to be honored."[40]
Marshall has used his former occupation as an obstetrician/gynecologist as a credential in his expressions of opposition to abortion.[41][42]
Agriculture
In 2023, Marshall introduced the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, which sought to prohibit state and local governments from imposing production standards on agricultural goods sold in interstate commerce. The bill was introduced in response to California's Proposition 12, which established animal welfare requirements for pork, veal, and egg products sold in the state, regardless of origin.[43] Marshall argued that such regulations impose burdens on producers and disrupt interstate commerce.[44] Opponents of the EATS Act warned the legislation could undermine efforts to regulate food safety, animal welfare, public health, and environmental standards.[45][46] The proposal became a key point of contention during negotiations over the 2023 United States farm bill, but it was ultimately not included in the farm bill extension.[47]
Attempt to overturn the 2020 election results
Marshall disputed the results of the 2020 presidential election, claiming that in "several states" "governors, secretaries of states and activist courts" usurped legislatures to create voting rules. Therefore, he announced that he would oppose the January 6, 2021, certification of the Electoral College count. He would also call for an electoral commission to investigate "the integrity of the ballot, to hold states accountable to the time proven constitutional system of the Electoral College."[48]
Marshall was participating in the certification of the Electoral College count when Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol. He blamed "the rioters, vandals, and trespassers" for destroying "any chance we had for peaceful discussion and debate on restoring and ensuring confidence in this and all future elections." He also called for participants to be "prosecuted to the fullest extent."[49]
After the Capitol was secure, Marshall joined the Senate to continue the vote on the certification. Marshall supported the objections to Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes. The Senate rejected these objections by 93–6 and 92-7 respectively.[50] He called his decision to object to the count "from my heart." Following the vote on certification, Marshall acknowledged that Joe Biden would be president and urged a peaceful transition of power.[49]
As a result of his refusal to certify the count, the Kansas Democratic Party called for his expulsion from Congress for failure to "execute [his] oath of office to support and defend the United States Constitution".[51] The McPherson Sentinel editorial board wrote that Marshall "should be ashamed" of his decision to support false claims of voter fraud and trying to overturn the election.[52]
Of medical marijuana, Marshall said in 2017, "I'm not convinced that it's medically proven and a good idea... I think there's a path there, but I just haven't seen enough scientific data to say it's a good thing."[54]
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Marshall favored local control of pandemic measures over a top-down approach. For example, he told an editorial board in Wichita, "The federal government's job is to give you the resources, and then each community has to solve this one community at a time."[55]
Marshall does not dispute the effectiveness of masks in halting the spread of the coronavirus but he opposes face mask mandates.[59][60] He has appeared at indoor campaign events without a face mask before maskless crowds who did not observe social distancing.[61][59][62]
During the pandemic, Marshall promoted prophylactic use of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug Trump promoted, despite its being unproven as an effective treatment and despite government warnings about using it outside research or hospital settings.[63] He said he himself used the drug to proactively guard against the virus.[63]
Marshall was one of six Republican senators to vote against expanding the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which would allow the U.S. Justice Department to review hate crimes related to COVID-19 and establish an online database.[66][67]
Marshall opposes Medicaid expansion in Kansas.[70] He says he "measures success in how many people can afford to leave the Medicaid program and enter the private insurance market."[68] In explaining his opposition to Medicaid expansion, Marshall said in an interview in March 2017 that some people "just don't want health care." His remarks attracted criticism; Marshall said they were taken out of context and cited his work as a doctor at a free family planning clinic which he said was the only clinic in the area to accept Medicaid.[68][71][72][70]
Economy
Marshall supports farm subsidies, such as federal crop insurance. His support for subsidies gained him the 2016 endorsement of the Kansas Farm Bureau in the Republican primary.[73][74]
Citing the "America First" doctrine, Marshall generally favors isolationist, non-charitable foreign policy, but with exceptions for Israel.[79][80]
While serving in the House, Marshall was among 60 Republicans to vote against condemning Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria.[81]
In 2022, Marshall resisted moves to provide foreign aid to Ukraine[79] In April 2024, he was one of only 18 U.S. senators (mostly Republicans) to vote against the long contested $95.3 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan—and legislation enabling a ban on TikTok.[82][80] He attempted to persuade the Senate to provide aid to Israel alone, strongly opposing aid to Ukraine.[80] He again opposed aid to Ukraine in early 2025.[83] On all three occasions, he insisted that the spending priority in foreign affairs should instead be "border security".[79][80]
When, in early 2025, President Donald Trump and his colleague Elon Musk began dismantling USAID (the principal U.S. foreign aid agency)—and the related 70-year-old, Kansas-originated, federal Food for Peace program, which feeds people in poor countries around the globe (largely with farm products purchased from Kansas)—Marshall encouraged their halt of foreign aid.[84]
Alleging "significant fraud and abuse" in the program and complaining that America is "just taken for granted", Marshall said he had spoken to Musk (and Musk colleague Vivek Ramaswamy) about "problems in the USAID program" and complained that the U.S. is no longer "using it to our advantage".[84]
In April 2026, Marshall voted against a war powers resolution intended to halt the 2026 Iran war until Congress authorized it.[85] Of the economic impact of the war, he said, "I'm sorry the gas prices are going up, but help is on the way and your national security, yes, is even more important than your pocketbook."[86]
Immigration
Marshall supported Trump's Executive Order 13769, which barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States.[87] He supports an immigration bill with a pathway to citizenship for people not living in the U.S. legally.[65][88]
Shortly after joining the Senate, Marshall sold his home in Great Bend and switched his legal residence to a ranch cabin in St. John, Kansas. Marshall also owns a vacation home in Sarasota, Florida, valued at $1.2 million, near where his children reside.[92][91]
12Shorman, Jonathan; Lowry, Bryan (June 21, 2020). "Roger Marshall was convicted of reckless driving in 2008. Here's how it was erased". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved September 14, 2026. More than a month later, the Barton County Sheriff's Office filed a complaint with the district court alleging one count of battery and one count of reckless driving.
12Hanna, John (August 29, 2020). "2 Kansas doctors but differing COVID-19 takes in Senate race". Associated Press News. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved November 1, 2020. U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall's audience of about 40 people packed a banquet room in a Kansas City-area bistro. No one wore a mask during his lunchtime remarks about the coronavirus. ... the congressman has gone to at least a few events where guidance on masks and distancing isn't followed
↑Lev Facher, A Senate race in Kansas between two doctors sets the stage for an election hyper-focused on health policy — and on Covid-19, Statnews (September 9, 2020): "has repeatedly criticized the congressman for his appearance at indoor campaign events without a mask, in defiance of local health orders. One appearance in suburban Wyandotte County, at which Marshall appeared bare-faced inside a room with several dozen maskless voters, earned him a sharp rebuke from the Kansas City Star's editorial board."
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