Topeka ? By the time Kansas voters actually cast their votes in November’s mid-term elections, the mystery wasn’t who would win. The question was, by how much?

Sunflower State Republicans swept to easy wins Nov. 2, sending both fiscal and social conservatives to the governor’s chair, the U.S. Senate, Congress and a host of statewide offices. The results proved to be the state’s biggest story of 2010, according to a survey of Associated Press member newspaper and broadcast editors.

It was the first time since 1964 that Republicans had swept all congressional and statewide contests on the ballot. All of the GOP candidates won by double-digit percentages, some 30 percentage points or more.

Leading the charge was U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, who routed Democrat state Sen. Tom Holland for the governor’s job. Brownback was replaced in the Senate by U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, whose only real competition for the seat came in August when he narrowly defeated fellow Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt in a bitter primary.

The state’s congressional delegation is all Republican, after state Rep. Kevin Yoder turned back Democrat Stephene Moore, who was seeking to replace her husband, Dennis Moore, in the 3rd District.

Law professor Kris Kobach, helped by his burgeoning national profile on immigration issues, easily took the Secretary of State race and state Sen. Derek Schmidt won the attorney general’s job over incumbent Steve Six.

Member editors ranked the January conviction of Scott Roeder, the gunman who confessed to killing abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, as the no. 2 story of 2010. A jury in Wichita took just 37 minutes to convict Roeder for putting a .22-caliber gun to Tiller’s forehead and pulling the trigger in the foyer of a church in 2009.

Perhaps the development with the most impact in Kansas was ranked the third top story, as the Kansas Legislature voted to raise taxes to avoid cuts in aid to public schools and other government programs. Consumers are paying a penny more for each dollar they spend at a store, hotel or restaurant, though some Republicans — emboldened by the November elections — are considering ways to undo the increase.

The rest of the top 10:

4) The U.S. Supreme Court in October heard arguments over whether the Westboro Baptist Church — home of the Phelps family — can be sued over protests at funerals of military veterans, and whether the father of a Marine killed in combat can collect $5 million in damages awarded in a federal lawsuit. Justices, in a rare public display of sympathy, suggested they would like to rule for the Marine’s father, but weren’t sure they could constitutionally.

5) On Election Day, attorneys for a coalition of Kansas school districts filed a lawsuit against the state over funding of public education. The lawsuit alleged the state has violated the Kansas Constitution by depriving students of their fundamental right to an education. The attorneys said the lawsuit was prompted by cuts in education spending after a similar lawsuit was settled in 2006.

6) The University of Kansas was embarrassed by a ticket scandal that ensnared a handful of athletic department officials. The investigation began in March amid reports that tickets to Jayhawk games were being scalped by athletic department employees. Other universities across the country began reviewing their own ticket policies as a result of the scandal. Two university employees pleaded guilty in July to knowing about the ticket scam and failing to report it. In November, federal prosecutors charged five former University of Kansas employees with conspiring to steal more than $2 million in tickets to sporting events.

7) Controversy continued to swirl around the proposed the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan. The new lab will be built near Kansas State’s Biosecurity Research Institute on the north end of campus near the football stadium. But a National Research Council report in October concluded the facility carries multiple risks, including that animal pathogens could be released close to urban populations and a large cattle supply.

8) A statewide smoking ban took effect in July, barring smokers from lighting up in most public places, including bars and restaurants — but not in state-owned casinos. Advocates said the ban will improve Kansans’ health, while business owners feared the law would hurt revenues. Critics plan to attack it when the Legislature reconvenes Jan. 10.

9) Kobach, a University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor, became a national figure for helping draft Arizona’s new immigration law. After being elected Kansas secretary of state, Kobach promised to pursue a law to require voters to show photo ID at the polls.

10) A state regulator issued an air-quality permit in December for a new coal-fired power plant in southwest Kansas, allowing a utility to begin construction on the $2.8 billion project without having to comply with new federal rules on greenhouse gases.