Kansas Senator Roger Marshall Pays $1,300 Bakery Bill After Six-Year Cookie Debt Row

Republican Sen. Roger Marshall has paid $1,300 to Holly's Sweet Treats, a Kansas bakery, after its owner said a $678.75 invoice for baked goods ordered for his 2020 primary-election watch party had remained unpaid for more than six years.

Marshall shared a payment receipt on X on Saturday, 10 October, saying his office had apologised and paid nearly double the original amount. Bakery owner Holly Thomas subsequently confirmed that the invoice could finally be marked as paid.

Baker Says Repeated Payment Requests Went Unanswered

Thomas owns the bakery that supplied cookies, brownies, and cupcakes for Marshall's primary election watch party in 2020. In a Facebook post, she said she repeatedly contacted the campaign by phone and email for nearly a year to collect payment but received no response.

'For nearly a year, I made repeated attempts to collect payment, reaching out by phone and email. I never received a return phone call, and the invoice was never paid,' Thomas wrote.

The unpaid invoice came during a challenging period for her business, which was still establishing itself amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the cost of ingredients, staff time, and other resources mattered when small businesses were struggling to remain open.

'Every single dollar mattered,' Thomas wrote, adding that the treats were not something her business could afford to give away. She stressed that her criticism was not about party politics or policy disagreements but about financial responsibility and her experience as a business owner.

'This isn't about political parties or policy disagreements. It's about my personal experience as a small business owner and the importance of honouring financial commitments,' she wrote. 'That experience is why Roger Marshall will never get my vote.'

Marshall Says His Office Moved to Repay the Debt

Marshall said his office had been unaware of the outstanding invoice until the complaint surfaced online. In a post on X on 10 October, he wrote that his team had immediately attempted to contact the business after learning of the complaint and had repaid the bill. '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 apologise, and we have repaid the bill from 2020, double,' Marshall wrote on X.

The $1,300 payment was nearly double the original $678.75 invoice, falling $57.50 short of exactly twice that amount. Marshall did not publicly explain why the invoice had remained unpaid for so long.

Thomas confirmed the repayment in a follow-up Facebook post, writing: 'Better late than never, right? Six years later, I guess we can finally mark that invoice PAID!'

Bakery Payment Draws Attention to Marshall's Medical-Debt Record

The bakery dispute follows an 8 September 2026 investigation by The New York Times, which found that Marshall had filed lawsuits against more than 700 patients over unpaid medical bills during his career as an obstetrician-gynaecologist. Court records reviewed by the outlet indicated that patients were arrested in 81 of those cases after missing court dates.

A spokesperson for Marshall defended his record, telling the newspaper that he had spent years treating patients regardless of their ability to pay. 'Judges issue warrants when people repeatedly miss court dates, not doctors,' spokesperson Payton Fuller said.

The payment comes as the senator seeks re-election in an increasingly competitive Kansas Senate race. A New York Times/Siena Research Institute poll published on 3 October found Marshall and Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton tied at 45% among likely voters.