AMNA NAWAZ: Democrats' midterm election wins have reached red states throughout the country.

That includes Kansas, a state that hadn't sent a Democrat to the U.S.

Senate since 1932.

That will soon change after Reverend Adam Hamilton, who leads the largest United Methodist Church in the country, defeated Republican incumbent Roger Marshall on Tuesday night.

And Senator-Elect Hamilton joins us now.

Congratulations, Reverend.

Thanks so much for joining us.

ADAM HAMILTON (D), Kansas Senator-Elect: Oh, it's a joy to be with you today.

Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, 94 years since Kansans have sent a Democrat to the Senate.

Why do you think they chose to do so this year?

ADAM HAMILTON: I think there was a lot of frustration with what's happening in Washington.

Across the state of Kansas, there were people who had voted Republican all their lives and yet looked at what was happening in Washington and felt like things were happening there that were -- that were not kind, they were cruel, they were immoral, they were corrupt, and policies that were hurting people in our state.

And I think there was a lot of folks who said, this is not OK.

This is not who we are.

AMNA NAWAZ: You put messages of decency, of morality right at the center of your campaign.

You said that those are rooted in your faith.

How does your time at the pulpit translate to how you talk to voters in this campaign?

ADAM HAMILTON: Sure.

Well, first of all, I have spent my life communicating with people.

That is what I do.

And so every Sunday you're asking the question, how does this -- how does our sacred text, the old New Testament, how does it speak to people's daily lives?

And part of that is trying to understand where are people, what are they struggling with, what's happening in their lives.

So, when you go out, and, as a pastor, I will just tell you I deeply care about people.

I tell folks I don't have very many remarkable gifts.

My superpowers are that I listen carefully, I care deeply, and I fight for people.

And so, when I traveled across the state, listening to people, hearing their stories, hearing their pain, their frustrations, their disappointments, and then imagining with them what a better future looks like comes naturally as a pastor.

And then communicating on the campaign trail is a lot of fun for me.

And -- but the biggest thing is, I have spent 38 years trying to ask, what should the world look like?

And Jesus talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount in the Lord's Prayer.

He asks us to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

And I tell people who have no particular religious faith, I say, if you think about that, this is like, what is the world supposed to look like?

And we're hoping to see that happen.

And as a -- as somebody who's running for office, you're imagining what that world should look like, and then you are willing to go fight to see it happen.

AMNA NAWAZ: One of the first big decisions you're going to have to make is what you want your leadership to look like when you get to the Senate.

You said you're not going to support Chuck Schumer to be majority leader.

So who do you think should lead the party in the Senate at this point in time?

ADAM HAMILTON: Sure.

And I mean no disrespect by saying that about Chuck Schumer.

He's had a long and distinguished career.

I just -- I think we need leaders who are going to bring people together, Republicans and Democrats together, centrists, moderates, and progressives bringing people together, conservatives.

And I would like to see... AMNA NAWAZ: And you don't think Chuck Schumer can do that?

ADAM HAMILTON: I'm not saying he can't.

I'm just saying, in my mind, I don't know Chuck very well.

I'm just saying that I feel like we need to have people who are determined to do that.

I also think it's time for fresh ideas, young newer ideas, newer people coming in, and folks -- I hear that a lot from people in Kansas as well, both Democrats and Republicans, saying, I think we have got to have fresh ideas.

We have got to have people who are bringing folks together.

And I think the perception, at least here in Kansas, is that maybe that doesn't happen as much as it could in the United States Senate.

AMNA NAWAZ: Can I ask you about some news?

We heard just today about President Trump naming Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff.

What kind of message does that send to you as an incoming member of the Democratic majority that he has promised to work with?

ADAM HAMILTON: Yes.

Well, I would say I think, for many of us, Stephen Miller seems to be the author, the person who has put together so many of the things that the president has done that we don't actually like.

So, whether it's about immigration and how we talk about immigrants, or it's the war in Iran, it's policies related to tariffs, in all of these ways, dismantling so many of the important agencies in the federal government, if he is in fact the person who is -- who's behind these ideas, placing him as the chief of staff seems -- it just seems difficult and challenging, I think, for many of us.

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to ask you about something else voters made clear in this election, which was something like 90 percent of them said government corruption was a crucial factor for them in how they voted.

The likely new chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, told us yesterday that the first issue for them will be investigating the Trump family and what he called clear corruption.

Do you agree with that approach?

ADAM HAMILTON: Well, look, I want to stop the corruption, and I do think there has been a lot of corruption happening in Washington and just ways of doing things that would have been considered irregular, immoral, unethical in the past.

And so I want to make sure we're erecting guardrails to make sure that never happens again.

That's really, really important to me.

AMNA NAWAZ: And what about the accountability looking back?

ADAM HAMILTON: Yes, yes.

So what I also want to say that there's a part of me that says, I don't want to spend the next two years in trials.

I want to spend the next two years working for the American people and solving problems for them and things that are that are solvable.

We have got to reverse things that have been done in the last two years.

We have got some really big issues to solve when it comes to Social Security, health care, when it comes to immigration, when it comes to national debt.

And if I thought I was going to spend the next two years in investigations and trials, I might not have ever got into this race.

I really want to help people.

So, yes, I think we need to hold people accountable.

I'm willing to do that.

But that's not where my priority lies.

My priority lies with people and with solving the problems that are hurting people in my own home state.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Senator-Elect Adam Hamilton from Kansas joining us tonight.

Sir, thank you so much for your time.

It's good to speak with you.

ADAM HAMILTON: Thank you.

Great to see you.