Conservatives came out on top in Tuesday’s Republican primary, but will the party be able to muster a unified effort in November?

The Republican primary races for governor and attorney general may have been hotly contested, but the conservative candidates who came out on top didn’t have to sweat out the late returns before declaring victory.

By a surprisingly wide margin, State Treasurer Tim Shallenburger held off the challenge of moderate Republicans Mayor Bob Knight and Senate President Dave Kerr. It was a similar story for former legislator Phill Kline, who won easily over State Sen. David Adkins. In both races, the concession and victory speeches came relatively early in the evening, well before the last votes were counted but after the races clearly had been decided.

The Shallenburger and Kline victories defied pre-primary polls that indicated the races were too close to call. Both polls, however, showed large numbers of undecided voters who apparently decided in the conservatives’ favor.

The impact of voter turnout on the primary races has been much debated. Because the conservative wing of the Kansas Republican Party is highly organized and able to get its voters to the polls, a low-turnout election is believed to favor conservative candidates. Final voter turnout figures weren’t available Wednesday, but, with 99 percent of the ballots in, the Secretary of State’s Office reported that more than 288,000 Kansans had voted in the Republican governor’s primary. That would represent about 40 percent of Republicans registered prior to the primary, which would seem a fair representation of the state GOP. Although that percentage would be skewed somewhat by unaffiliated voters who declared a Republican affiliation at the polls on Tuesday, the primary result shows a distinct preference for Republicans who are fiscally and socially conservative.

One of the interesting  and perhaps positive  outcomes of the primary is that Kansas voters will have a clear philosophical choice in November. Kline has been a standard-bearer for conservative causes in Kansas. He is pro-life and talks a tough line on crime. It will be interesting to see how he matches up against Democrat Chris Biggs, who works with criminal issues every day as the Geary County prosecutor.

In the governor’s race, Shallenburger will face Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Sebelius has stayed in the background and taken few definitive stands during the primary race. Now that she has a single opponent from whom to distinguish herself, she will have to make her positions clear on a number of issues. Although pre-primary polls showed Sebelius with a large advantage over Shallenburger, his strong primary showing indicates it would be a huge mistake for Sebelius to take her opponent lightly.

Sebelius has said she is supportive of state funding for education, but she will have to be more forthcoming about her plans to deal with the state’s difficult financial situation. Shallenburger has adamantly contended that the state can deal with a predicted $500 million to $700 million budget shortfall without raising any new taxes. Voters should examine that no-new-taxes pledge carefully between now and the general election and decide whether such a strategy is possible and what impact it would have on crucial state services if carried out.

In these challenging financial times, what would be the result of electing a Democratic governor to work with a Republican Legislature? Will the moderate and conservative factions of the Republican Party be able to unite behind their selected candidates? How will Kerr, Adkins and Knight respond? Once the election is over, will Kansas still have what has been dubbed its “three-party” system represented by Democrats, moderate Republicans and conservative Republicans?

These are questions Kansas voters should ponder in the next three months leading up to the November election. They should carefully evaluate the candidates and prepare to cast informed ballots for well-motivated people who can lead the state through the difficult challenges that lie ahead.