TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Democrat Paul Morrison ousted Republican Phill Kline from the attorney general’s office Tuesday night, winning over voters upset with Kline for pursuing patient records from two abortion clinics.

Kline’s race for a second term received national attention because of the abortion records dispute. With 51 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, Morrison had 59 percent to Kline’s 41 percent.

Morrison argued that Kline, an abortion opponent, had abused his office and violated patients’ privacy. That argument appeared to overcome Kline’s explanation that he needed the records to investigate crimes such as rapes with child victims and potentially illegal late-term abortions.

The call for Morrison in Kansas was based on a number of factors, including voter turnout, previous voting patterns, and a statistical analysis of the vote from voter interviews conducted for The Associated Press by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.

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