Trump returns. Letter to the sage. Election interference.

By Sherman Smith | editor-in-chief

SALINA — President Donald Trump slotted Kansas into his final midterm campaign stop Sunday to make one more swing at salvaging the reelection campaign of U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall.

Trump brought Air Force One to the tarmac in Salina, a community of 46,000 people known for hosting the world’s largest frozen pizza plant, as a follow-up to his MAGA celebration in October at Park City. The president’s road show reboot in Kansas was designed to reinforce his support for Marshall, a Republican displaying unblemished loyalty to Trump. The senator’s reelection campaign also received in-person boosts from Vice President JD Vance, who also came to Kansas twice, and a roster of Trump administration officials dispatched to the heartland.

“Just two days from now, the people of Kansas are going to reelect Roger Marshall to the United States Senate,” Trump said. “I had to come here to make sure that Roger got it. One of the most respected people in Washington. I didn’t want to take a chance.”

By Huascar Medina

Dear William Allen White,

It’s been some time since I last wrote you. The air is swirling across Kansas. Maddening gusts of uncertainty from east to west, and the entire nation is watching. I often call wind the prophet of change, and its message remains to be determined.

You once said of our great state, “Kansas is the Mother Shipton, the Madame Thebes, the Witch of Endor, and the low barometer of the nation. When anything is going to happen in this country, it happens first in Kansas.”

I often hark back to this quote when elucidating on the importance of Kansas. We shall see.

As concerns rise about the potential for federal influence over the results of next week’s midterm elections, many voting experts and advocates remain confident that the nation’s highly localized systems of administering and counting votes will persevere.

Facing sinking approval ratings over high prices, the White House has amped up attacks on state-administered elections: In recent weeks, the federal government sued Alaska and California to intervene in their elections and demanded election officials in Washington state pull aside ballots of 400 alleged noncitizens — laying the groundwork for a high-stakes showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone interviews former Kansas state poet laureate Huascar Medina about his latest book, "Protest as Love Poem," and the challenges of living through this political and cultural age.

WASHINGTON — When the polls close Tuesday night, the 2026 U.S. election will go down as one of history’s most expensive and extraordinarily ugly midterms — galvanizing record-breaking early voter turnout among a deeply divided electorate.

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.