GOP incumbents performed well in a straw poll over the weekend at the annual Olathe Republicans picnic in Johnson County.

The event, which is usually dominated by conservatives, is viewed as a fairly reliable indicator of how Republican primary candidates are doing, at least in the Kansas City-area suburbs.

According to Robyn Essex, treasurer of the group, U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts easily out-polled his Tea Party challenger Milton Wolf, 174-74.

In the GOP primary for governor and lieutenant governor – yes, there is one – Sam Brownback and Jeff Colyer easily won over challengers Jennifer Winn and Robin R. Lais, 212-30.

And in the Secretary of State primary, incumbent Kris Kobach scored a 189-21 showing over Scott Morgan of Lawrence.

Olathe GOP chairman David Lightner said the straw poll often gives momentum to the winning candidates heading into the August primaries. And he said it’s a fairly accurate barometer of how conservative Republicans in particular are leaning.

“Given that this is going to be a conservative year, I think it’s probably pretty accurate,” Lightner said.

The Olathe Republican Party is currently organized as a political action committee because state law does not recognize city-level party committees. But he said the state GOP committee may push for legislation in 2015 to begin allowing city-level committees.