Topeka ? Nobody saw Robert Conroy on the campaign trail, but 1,542 people in Cherokee County voted for him anyway in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Nor did Conroy troll for support in Shawnee County, but he still trounced Lee Jones there with 10,860 votes to 2,676.

With no campaigning, Conroy took Tuesday’s primary with 56 percent of the vote, confounding Democratic leaders who expected Jones would win. Jones, a former lobbyist, had traveled the state, created a Web site and spent more than $13,000 in seeking the right to oppose Republican Sen. Sam Brownback in November.

Conroy, a 76-year-old retired railroad worker from the Johnson County city of Shawnee, didn’t venture an explanation Wednesday for a victory he didn’t actively seek.

“I’m still in wonderment,” he said.

So were political observers and some of Kansas’ leading Democrats.

“I couldn’t tell you anything about this guy,” said Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, who backed Jones. “I don’t know how that happened. Lee Jones at least put together some kind of campaign.”

Conroy — who also does not plan to campaign for the general election — had said plainly in June that he filed for the seat only to ensure that Brownback would have an opponent as he sought a second full term. He recently said of Jones, “I’m sure he will come out on top.”

Jones, a 53-year-old railroad engineer from Lenexa, beat Conroy in a few counties, including Douglas, Ellis, Miami, Montgomery, Reno and Sherman. In Johnson County, where both men live, Jones received 7,910 votes to Conroy’s 7,536.

Joe Aistrup, who leads Kansas State University’s political science department, suspects the outcome reflected voters’ lack of familiarity with the two Democratic hopefuls. One possible key is that Conroy was listed first on the ballot, he said.