They're growing more vocal about describing Marshall as the best alternative for keeping the Kansas seat out of play in a potentially difficult fall for defending Republicans' Senate majority. You're seeing a lot of people starting to circle the wagons around Roger Marshall, said Kelly Arnold, a former state GOP chairman. Kobach, Marshall and Bob Hamilton, the founder of a Kansas City-area plumbing company, are running with eight other candidates in the most crowded GOP field since Kansas began holding Senate primaries more than 100 years ago. That was showing their hand, that they wanted everybody to be for Marshall, said Tim Shallenburger, a former Kansas GOP chairman and state treasurer. He said the party always anticipated that its last candidate event on July 15 might involve them talking issues rather than throwing jabs. He said any of the major GOP candidates are better alternative than Bollier.