A beginner’s guide to Roger Marshall. Hospitals closing. Apology demanded.

By Clay Wirestone | opinion editor

By Clay Wirestone

Welcome, newcomer, to the bewildering phantasmagoria of Kansas politics!

Perhaps you hail from another state and have been told by election forecasters, political pundits or your great-aunt Sally that Kansas’ U.S. Senate race has become unexpectedly competitive. Perhaps you’re a Kansan who smartly ignores politics most of the time . Perhaps you’re — like me — a masochist for political gossip.

Whoever you are, and wherever you come from, just know that U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas has a habit of stumbling into excruciatingly embarrassing news stories. National commentators repeatedly voice surprise at seeing Marshall in trouble.

Those of us following him in Kansas aren’t surprised.

Here’s a sampling of headlines from the past six years — from Marshall’s first campaign for Senate to the present — showing how deeply strange stories swarm around the former doctor.

Urban hospitals are closing at roughly the same rate as rural ones, and the shuttered hospitals are more likely to have served communities with high poverty rates and fewer transportation options, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal JAMA.

WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee is demanding his colleagues across the aisle apologize to former special counsel Jack Smith after Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt launched false accusations at a recent hearing and called the former Justice Department official a “dirtbag.”

Thanks for reading Read & Reflect. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.