Topeka ? Abortion opponents, fundamentalist churches and anti-tax activists have become known over the past decade in Kansas politics for an ability to push conservative voters to the polls.

The thought of fighting an army of conservative volunteers and their newsletters, fliers and e-mail chains scares many moderate Republican and Democratic candidates. In statewide races, the theory goes, such grassroots efforts compensate for not being well-financed.

But the results of last week’s primaries showed money and television are still crucial in statewide races.

In GOP primaries for governor, insurance commissioner and secretary of state, the candidate who raised the most money and had TV ads won.

“If you cannot broadcast on television, you have not done a sufficient job,” said State GOP Chairman Tim Shallenburger. “It’s the way to get to the broadest group of people to hear your message.”

Back to basics

The lesson may seem basic, but it’s gotten lost in recent years as political scientists and activists have marveled at conservatives’ skills in winning Republican primaries. Certainly, the lesson was lost on some statewide candidates.

For example, former House Speaker Robin Jennison, of Healy, eschewed television in favor of a statewide bus trip and handshaking in coffee shops.

It was a natural choice for Jennison, who raised only $160,000 for his campaign, compared to $519,000 for Sen. Jim Barnett, the eventual nominee. Also, with seven candidates, the winner seemed likely to emerge with a small chunk of the vote.

“We think we can get around without being on radio and TV,” Jennison said during a mid-July stop in Oskaloosa.

Meanwhile, Rep. Eric Carter, of Overland Park, a conservative trying to unseat moderate Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, accused Praeger of running a “remote control campaign.”

The difference between his campaign and Praeger’s was dramatic. She spent more than half of the $304,000 she raised on broadcast advertising. Carter raised nearly $181,000, and his biggest expense was yard signs.

“I’m actually going to every candidate forum, visiting with people directly,” Carter said following one event in Abilene. “We’re getting good support. We’ve gone through several thousand yard signs, and large signs as well.”

And there was Sen. Kay O’Connor’s challenge to Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh. O’Connor, from Olathe, raised only $51,000, less than a quarter of Thornburgh’s $209,000. Yet Thornburgh took her seriously, saying her energetic campaigns had left a trail of losers behind her.

Statewide level

It’s worth noting that O’Connor, Carter and Jennison learned their campaigning skills in legislative races, not statewide contests.

Such experiences would have taught the challengers the usefulness of retail campaigning. In legislative races – particularly for House seats in urban areas – it is possible to knock on enough doors to win. Because television and radio ads drift far from a legislative district, it’s often not as effective as one-on-one contact.

Nor is anyone discounting the importance of having an army of committed volunteers. Thornburgh said they do the day-to-day work of any campaign.

“It’s important that you have your supporters doing the work of the campaign,” Thornburgh said. “But the bottom line is, on Election Day, you need those casual observers as well. The way you reach those casual observers is through the mass media.”

Thornburgh used television to hammer home the image of a hardworking family man intent on teaching his young sons proper values, someone “right for Kansas.” He buried O’Connor, who ran radio ads, winning 73 percent of the vote.

Praeger attacked Carter aggressively on television. One ad portrayed him as a carpetbagger who didn’t care about Kansas; another said he wanted to deregulate the insurance industry. Carter complained that both ads were misleading and inaccurate, but Praeger’s message ruled the airwaves.

She captured 59 percent of the vote in a race that many Republicans, including some supporters, worried that she could lose.

Finally, there is Barnett, who used his ads to outline the platform he’d been running on since January. Its elements – tax cuts, more money for schools and opposition to drivers’ licenses or college tuition breaks for illegal immigrants – were familiar to GOP activists.

But most Kansans didn’t seem to be paying attention to the race, at least until the final days. On television, Barnett was the only candidate.

“Television is both hearing and seeing – and almost feeling and touching,” Shallenburger. “You get a much better feel for a candidate.”