Douglas County voters generally reflected state trends in Tuesday’s primary elections, but voters from both parties went their own way in some key races.

That was especially true in races where they had an opportunity to vote for a local candidate.

In the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, for example, Douglas County voters preferred Lawrence attorney Patrick Wiesner by a wide margin over Chad Taylor, 66-34 percent.

But Taylor, the district attorney from neighboring Shawnee County, had the backing of state party officials and walked away with the nomination by a 53-47 percent margin. That was due in part to Taylor winning his home county by an even wider margin, 85-15 percent.

And in the Republican primary for secretary of state, Lawrence businessman Scott Morgan won Douglas County, 55-45 percent over incumbent Kris Kobach. But Kobach won the nomination with nearly two-thirds of the statewide GOP vote.

In other races, Gov. Sam Brownback carried Douglas County, but by a much narrower margin than the statewide vote. Brownback got only 51 percent of the Douglas County vote, compared to 65 percent statewide.

Jennifer Winn, a Wichita businesswoman, actually carried two of the state’s smaller counties – Pratt and Elk – and garnered 37 percent of the Republican vote statewide. Some analysts had said before the primary that if Winn took even 20 percent of the primary vote, it could be an indicator that Brownback faces trouble within his own party going into the general election against Democrat Paul Davis of Lawrence.

U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, meanwhile, had a slightly easier time in Douglas County than elsewhere, winning 50 percent of the local vote, compared to 48 percent statewide.

The narrowness of that race surprised even some Republican observers, given Roberts’ long tenure in Congress and his huge fundraising advantage. His tea party challenger, Milton Wolf, a Johnson County radiologist, carried 13 counties, including the Kansas City metro area, as well as the El Dorado and Hutchinson areas.

And in the five-way GOP race for insurance commissioner, Douglas County voters preferred Beverly Gossage of Eudora, giving her 43 percent of the local vote. But she won only 23 percent of the statewide vote, finishing second behind Ken Selzer of Leawood.