Topeka ? Moving under the political radar screen, anti-abortion and pro-gun activists turned tight Republican races into near landslides for conservative candidates in Tuesday’s primary elections.

Officials said Wednesday that last-minute campaign blitzes by single-issue groups, combined with low voter turnout, helped Tim Shallenburger win the GOP governor’s race, Phill Kline to win the attorney general’s race, and resulted in two big upsets on the State Board of Education. And these candidates didn’t just win they won big in what had been polled as races that were too close to call.

A day after the primary, Republicans meet to share a traditional Unity

Though official numbers weren’t available, it appeared statewide voter turnout fell short of the predicted 24 percent. According to unofficial tallies, about 40 percent of the state’s registered Republicans cast ballots in Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary.

Larry Harris, a principal of Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, which performed statewide polling on the races, said the hardcore voters in Republican Party primaries usually side with anti-abortion and pro-gun candidates.

“They’re hearing it in the churches the Sunday before the election. Their ministers are saying, ‘You have a Christian obligation to go to the polls tomorrow.’ That’s a tremendous motivational factor when you are told by your spiritual adviser,” Harris said.

Troy Newman, director of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue West in Wichita, said his goal during the Republican gubernatorial race was to make sure Wichita Mayor Bob Knight lost and Shallenburger won.

Shifting fortunes

On Monday, the day before the primary, Newman put on the Internet and faxed hundreds of copies of a message headlined: “Bob Knight is an Enemy of the Child and Christians Not Worthy for Governor.”

“It was part of a larger, calculated effort to end Knight’s campaign for governor,” Newman said. Knight described himself as anti-abortion, but he criticized anti-abortion activist groups such as Operation Rescue for its tactics in confronting George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who performs abortions.

Kansas State Treasurer Tim Shallenburger, center, who won his bid for the Kansas Republican gubernatorial nomination in Tuesday's primary, is welcomed by local GOP leaders in Pittsburg. Committed conservative voters gave Shallenburger a comfortable lead over his two moderate opponents, Bob Knight and Dave Kerr.

“I did everything in my power to see to it that Bob Knight would not get elected governor,” Newman said, adding that his intent was to help Shallenburger, who opposes abortion and had been endorsed by anti-abortion groups.

A poll commissioned by The World Company showed Knight leading the race one week before the election. In the end, though, Shallenburger captured 41 percent of the vote, followed by Senate President Dave Kerr with 30 percent, Knight with 26 percent and Dan Bloom, 3 percent. Shallenburger even beat Knight in Knight’s hometown of Wichita.

Many political observers, however, attributed Shallenburger’s victory to his anti-tax message, though they conceded the anti-abortion vote helped him.

Guns and the AG

But taxes were not an issue in the attorney general’s race.

The World Company Poll showed Kline with a narrow lead before the primary. But after the ballots were counted, Kline had 50 percent of the vote, with his major opponent, state Sen. David Adkins, capturing 39 percent. Charles McAtee, Topeka, received 11 percent.

Kline benefited from pro-gun groups coming to his aid in the last days of the campaign, including the National Rifle Assn. and the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, which ran television ads and mailed thousands of campaign letters.

The NRA told its 40,000 Kansas members Kline received an “A” rating from the group, while Adkins received an “F.”

“Voters sent anti-gun politicians and activists a clear message gun-control advocates don’t belong in Kansas,” said Chris Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist. The NRA also took credit for defeating incumbent state Rep. Cindy Hermes, R-Topeka.

Bob Hodgdon, director of Hogdon Powder Co. in Overland Park and a former board member of the NRA, sent letters to gun owners on behalf of Kline. He said the NRA’s support of Kline “made a definite difference” in the race.

Kline also was anti-abortion and Adkins pro-choice.

Board of Education

Conservative activists again played a pivotal role in Republican Party primaries for Kansas Board of Education.

Iris Van Meter, a conservative from Thayer, and last-minute candidate who barely campaigned, defeated incumbent Val DeFever, a moderate from Independence. And Connie Morris, a conservative from St. Francis, defeated incumbent Sonny Rundell, also a moderate, from Syracuse.

Both Van Meter and Morris received support from the Kansas Republican Assembly, the conservative wing of the party.

Van Meter is the mother of Kris Van Meteren, who is executive director of the assembly. Van Meteren spells his name differently than his mother to reflect the original Dutch spelling.

Van Meteren said his mother purposely did not run a high-profile campaign until near the end. “We decided to adopt a strategy to catch Val DeFever off guard,” Van Meteren said. “We kept it low-key and then worked hard the last 10 days.”

Van Meter handed out and mailed campaign literature that tied DeFever to liberal groups.

“It was all misinformation,” DeFever said.

Van Meteren said single-issue activists made the difference in many of the elections.

“Conservative Republicans decide primary elections in Kansas, and a lot of those voters tend to be pro-life,” Van Meteren said.

But, he added, that much of the KRA’s success up and down the ballot was due to hard work at the grass-roots level. The Kansas Republican Assembly delivered a publication that listed its endorsements to tens of thousands of people statewide.

“What made the difference here was the campaign with the most workers on the ground won,” he said.