Topeka ? During nearly eight years as governor, Bill Graves has been described as mild-mannered, unassuming and, by critics, disengaged.

Yet Graves is a lightning rod for Republicans.

The party’s inner feuding usually has been described as moderates battling conservatives. But those labels often are vague, and their meanings can shift.

What has evolved is a Republican Party in which Graves’ allies are described as moderates, even if there is a significant diversity of opinion among them on fiscal and social policy. Graves’ regular critics are described as conservatives.

Ahead for Republicans is a post-Graves political landscape in which this question looms like a cottonwood on the prairie: Absent the party’s defining figure of the past eight years, can the GOP unite against Democratic Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius?

“It’s a Hatfield and McCoy epic,” Graves said during a recent interview. “Neither side remembers who fired the first shot, but both sides are fully comfortable making sure they fire the last shot.”

Some Republicans hope the shots stop flying for at least a while.

Republicans will hold majorities of 30-10 in the Senate and 80-45 in the House when the 2003 Legislature convenes Jan. 13.

“We’re at a crossroads,” said incoming House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka. “We have a wonderful opportunity to unite the party, an opportunity we should not ignore.”

Trouble in ’95

The latest round of infighting began just after Graves took office in January 1995. Graves learned after winning the 1994 general election that conservatives had enough precinct committee positions to elect former Rep. David Miller, of Eudora, as state party chairman.

The party drafted anti-abortion, pro-gun rights platform that Graves publicly repudiated; he wasn’t even a delegate to the 1996 GOP National Convention. He picked Lt. Gov. Sheila Frahm to replace Bob Dole when Dole ran for president; she lost to Sam Brownback in the primary, and as a senator, he became the conservatives’ leader.

In 1998, Miller resigned as party chairman to challenge Graves in the gubernatorial primary; Graves spent $1.6 million to defeat Miller. Graves calls the contest “bare-knuckled.”

“I think because of the contentiousness of the primary in ’98, we really deepened the conflict,” Graves said.

Thwarted agenda

Graves attributed conservatives’ frustration to his blocking their favored proposals on abortion, gun rights and tax cuts. He said they felt empowered when they saw conservatives take over leadership of the U.S. House in 1995, only to be thwarted in Kansas.

But Mays saw another reason for some of the rancor.

“Some of his ardent supporters took disagreement with the governor as disloyalty to the governor,” Mays said.

More shots to come

Even as Graves prepares to leave office, signs of the split among Republicans persist.

For example, when Senate Republicans met recently to choose a new vice president, to replace Insurance Commissioner-elect Sandy Praeger, they named Sen. John Vratil, of Leawood, perceived as a moderate Graves ally. The vote was 16-14.

Mays himself has been described as a conservative. That label stuck two years ago, when he lost a narrow race for House speaker to Kent Glasscock, of Manhattan. Glasscock is a strong ally of Graves.

It is difficult to predict whether Republicans will unite or continue their fractious ways. What is certain is that Graves won’t be the central figure around whom any fighting occurs.