Kansas GOP Sen. Roger Marshall pays off 6-year-old campaign cookie bill

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Republican Sen. Roger Marshall settled his debts this weekend with a bakery in Kansas after a bill for hundreds of treats his campaign ordered for a 2020 event sat unpaid for six years.

Holly Thomas, the owner of the shop that made cookies, brownies and cupcakes for Marshall’s primary election watch party, said in a social media post on Friday that she will not vote for the senator in this year’s election, where he is facing an unexpectedly strong challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton, after he failed to pay the $678.75 he owed her small business.

“This isn’t about political parties or policy disagreements. It’s about my personal experience as a small business owner and the importance of honoring financial commitments,” Thomas said. “That experience is why Roger Marshall will never get my vote.”

Thomas said she reached out several times but never heard back, noting that the lack of payment came as her business was just beginning and at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. “Six years later, I haven’t forgotten,” she said.

Marshall posted a screenshot of a payment for $1,300 on Saturday, showing that he had paid the half-a-decade-old cookie bill, and then some.

“We have absolutely no idea how this happened, but rest assured as soon as it became known to us, we immediately attempted to contact the business in order to apologize, and we have repaid the bill from 2020, double,” Marshall said on social media.

Thomas confirmed a few hours later that she can “finally mark the invoice paid.”

​The Republican senator is facing a competitive reelection race this fall, with voters’ strong disapproval of President Donald Trump and widespread economic anxiety raising the possibility that Kansas could send a Democrat to the Senate for the first time in nearly a century. A recent poll by The New York Times and Siena University showed Marshall tied with Hamilton at 45% among likely voters.

The repayment of the bakery bill come as Marshall, a former obstetrician-gynecologist, has faced criticism over a report last month that he sued hundreds of patients over unpaid medical debt.

The New York Times found that he had filed lawsuits against more than 700 patients with outstanding bills and at least 81 of those individuals were arrested for missing court dates. Democrats have leaned on the story in ads, accusing Marshall of disregarding people’s concerns about healthcare costs.

A spokesperson for Marshall told the Times that the longtime doctor spent many years treating patients regardless of their ability to pay.

“Judges issue warrants when people repeatedly miss court dates, not doctors,” spokesperson Payton Fuller said in a statement to the outlet.

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共和党参议员罗杰·马歇尔本周末与堪萨斯州的一家面包店结清了债务，此前他的竞选团队为 2020 年的一次活动订购了数百份点心，但账单却拖欠了六年之久。

为马歇尔初选守夜派对制作饼干、布朗尼和纸杯蛋糕的商店老板霍莉·托马斯周五在社交媒体上发帖称，她不会在今年的选举中投票给这位参议员。马歇尔在今年的选举中面临着民主党人亚当·汉密尔顿出人意料的强劲挑战，此前他未能支付欠她小店的 678.75 美元。

“这与政党或政策分歧无关。这关乎我作为一名小企业主的个人经历，以及履行财务承诺的重要性，”托马斯说。“正是这种经历让我永远不会投票给罗杰·马歇尔。”

托马斯说她曾多次联系对方，但始终没有收到回复。她指出，当时正值她的生意起步阶段，又恰逢新冠疫情高峰期，而款项却迟迟未到。“六年过去了，我仍然记忆犹新，”她说。

周六，马歇尔发布了一张 1300 美元的付款截图，显示他不仅支付了五年前的饼干账单，还多付了一些。

“我们完全不知道这是怎么发生的，但请放心，我们一得知此事，就立即联系了相关商家表示歉意，并且我们已经偿还了 2020 年的账单，而且是双倍的金额，”马歇尔在社交媒体上说。

几个小时后，托马斯确认她“终于可以把发票标记为已付款了”。

这位共和党参议员今年秋季将面临激烈的连任竞选。选民对特朗普总统的强烈不满以及普遍存在的经济焦虑，使得堪萨斯州有可能近百年来首次将一位民主党人送入参议院。纽约时报和锡耶纳大学最近的一项民调显示，在可能投票的选民中，马歇尔和汉密尔顿的支持率均为45%。

在偿还面包店账单之际，这位前妇产科医生马歇尔正因上个月的一份报告而受到批评，该报告称他起诉了数百名未偿还医疗债务的患者。

《纽约时报》发现，他曾对700多名拖欠医疗费用的患者提起诉讼，其中至少81人因缺席庭审而被捕。民主党人在竞选广告中大肆渲染此事，指责马歇尔漠视民众对医疗费用的担忧。

马歇尔的一位发言人告诉《泰晤士报》，这位资深医生多年来一直不计患者支付能力地为他们提供治疗。

发言人佩顿·富勒在给该媒体的一份声明中表示：“法官会在人们屡次缺席庭审时签发逮捕令，而不是医生。”