Topeka ? It will be a rematch in the secretary of state’s race with Republican incumbent Ron Thornburgh once again facing Democrat Sen. David Haley in the Nov. 7 general election.

The two men faced each other in the 2002 election, which Thornburgh won with 65 percent of the vote.

The Aug. 1 primary election was in doubt when Haley, of Kansas City, and Wichita attorney and author Robert Beattie ended the night separated by 317 votes out of 68,869 cast – 50.23 percent for Haley compared with 49.77 for Beattie.

With the provisional ballots that were counted in the 105 counties tallied Tuesday, Haley’s margin narrowed, but he remained ahead by 228 votes out of 71,230 cast. That gave him a margin of 50.15 percent against 49.84 percent for Beattie.

“On a statewide primary, we don’t recall any that close in at least the past 20 years,” said State Elections Director Brad Bryant.

Bryant said Beattie had until 5 p.m. Tuesday to ask for a re-count but no such request was made. Unlike some states, Kansas doesn’t have an automatic recount when the margin falls below a specific level.

Haley carried 21 counties including Wyandotte, Johnson, Shawnee and Douglas. Beattie carried 84 counties, including Sedgwick and the rural, sparsely populated portions of the state.

In the Republican primary, Thornburgh defeated conservative Sen. Kay O’Connor of Olathe with 77 percent of the vote. It was his only contested primary since he first ran for the office in 1994.