Second Johnson County Democrat launches bid to unseat Roger Marshall in Kansas
After four decades in corporate America, Sandy Spidel Neumann has set her sights on the U.S. Senate. The Johnson County Democrat believes her talents are sorely needed there.
“Throughout my career, I get tapped to go into situations and clean them up,” said Spidel Neumann, 61, who retired as a vice president of Minneapolis-based Ameriprise Financial Services in May after 22 years with the company.
Spidel Neumann, who was born in Topeka and grew up in Overland Park, is living in Merriam and running her first campaign for public office after moving back to Kansas this summer.
She’s one of four Democrats who have launched a bid to unseat the state’s junior Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican. She joins Overland Park attorney Anne Parelkar, former Biden USDA official Christy Davis of Cottonwood Falls and Michael Soetaert of Wellington.
“My approach is, I’m not looking for a career here,” Spidel Neumann said. “I’m looking to go in to make a difference, to try to change some of the things that are going on, and then kick it over to the next generation, who should be stepping up to actually lead us as we move forward here.”
She said leaders who aren’t concerned with getting credit can accomplish a great deal. What she’s seen from Marshall doesn’t qualify as leadership, she said.
“I’m seeing capitulation. I’m seeing just standing behind the president and nodding his head,” Spidel Neumann said.
“If he were actually leading on issues that matter to the people of Kansas, he wouldn’t be voting to cut Medicaid when he knows that that’s going to result in hospitals closing,” she added. “He wouldn’t be aligned with the president’s chaotic tariffs because he would know that that’s going to cause pain for our farmers.”
Spidel Neumann said the $10 billion bailout for farmers that the Trump administration is reportedly considering to ease hardship during the ongoing trade war isn’t the solution that Kansas growers are looking for.
“I will fight to reopen markets for them,” she said. “They don’t want handouts. They don’t want tax dollars going to them to bail them out for a situation that’s not their fault.”
What to know about Senate candidate Sandy Spidel Neumann
Spidel Neumann studied economics at the University of Chicago and earned her Master of Business Administration in marketing and digital strategy from Northwestern University.
She said she was drawn to financial services because it lends itself to analytical problem-solving and because she has a knack for “wringing every bit of value out of a dollar that I can.”
“Financials is just how my brain works,” Spidel Neumann said. “I work in spreadsheets in my head.”
One policy sphere that could use some problem-solving is health care, she said.
“If people have a health care emergency and aren’t insured, that’s economic failure. They’re going to be in bankruptcy,” Spidel Neumann said. “And everyone’s one incident of hospitalization away from that if you don’t have insurance.”
She said long-term solutions for affordability in health care and beyond will come from lawmakers who are willing to fight for their constituents and transcend the pettiness of partisan politics.
Spidel Neumann said she sees herself as a senator in the mold of Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota or Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
“They’re driven, smart. They focus on what needs to get done. They work, as much as they can, to get everything done across the aisle and make a difference for the constituents in their states,” she said.
Kansas residency
Spidel Neumann’s campaign is being managed by Max Glass, the strategist behind Barbara Bollier’s 2020 campaign against Marshall. Bollier, another Johnson County candidate, ultimately lost to Marshall by 11 percent of the vote.
But Spidel Neumann said Kansans who have gotten to know Marshall’s priorities over the last five years are ready for a change.
In her estimation, he’s out of touch. In a campaign announcement video, she drew attention to the $1.2 million Sarasota, Florida, home Marshall owns, far from the 1,120-square-foot cabin in Stafford County that he calls home.
“In business, I’ve seen what happens when leaders fall short, like when Roger sells out Kansas time and again, and then jets off to his Florida mansion,” Spidel Neumann said.
“I hope you’ll join my team as we fight for our values and send Roger Marshall back to Florida for good.”
An October 2024 photo on Spidel Neuman’s Instagram shows her posing with an “I Voted” sticker outside an early voting location in Maple Grove, Minnesota, where she was still living at the time.
Spidel Neumann said she considers Johnson County home and is committed to representing Kansans across the state if elected.
“I understand the plight of people throughout Kansas, and more than that, I will be in every county. I will talk to people … I will represent all of Kansas, as you should,” she said.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
