Overland Park ? Gov. Sam Brownback declared victory in his GOP primary race for another term, despite a surprisingly strong showing by a virtual unknown in politics.

Jennifer Winn, a Wichita businesswoman who favors legalizing marijuana and industrial hemp production, was still getting 39 percent of the vote, with 28 percent of the state’s precincts reporting around 9 p.m.

“It’s a great victory moving forward,” Brownback told a cheering crowd in Overland Park where state Republicans had gathered to watch the voting returns.

Speaking to reporters after his victory speech, Brownback said he did not think Winn’s performance was an omen of possible trouble going into the general election.

Instead, he stuck to his theme, certain to continue in the campaign ahead, of defining himself as a “Reagan-style Republican,” and contrasting himself with Democrat Paul Davis, whom he called “an Obama-style Democrat.”

Brownback’s primary win came on the same day that a new Gallup poll showed Kansas is the only state in the nation to see an increase in the number of uninsured residents since enactment of the federal health insurance law, commonly known as Obamacare.

When asked, Brownback would not comment on that poll, saying only that another report had come out showing Kansas with the fifth-best public schools in the country.

Brownback now will face a tougher-than-expected race from Democratic challenger Paul Davis because of questions about whether massive personal income tax cuts enacted at the governor’s urging are boosting the economy, as promised, or wrecking the state’s finances.

Secretary of State Kris Kobach handily won his GOP primary, securing a November race against former state Sen. Jean Schodorf, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Kobach beat challenger Scott Morgan, a Lawrence attorney and businessman who didn’t enter the race until May and couldn’t match Kobach’s fundraising. The incumbent is seeking his second four-year term.

Kobach championed the law requiring new voters to provide a birth certificate, passport or other citizenship documents to register, saying it prevented election fraud.

About 18,000 votes are on hold because the prospective voters haven’t complied with the new law, which Morgan said suppresses turnout.

The most hotly contested statewide race was for the Republican nomination for insurance commissioner, where industry executive Ken Selzer held a slim lead late Tuesday in a crowded field with some votes still left to count.

The insurance commissioner’s position was left vacant when three-term incumbent Sandy Praeger didn’t seek re-election after breaking with most of the GOP and praising the federal health care law.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.