Topeka ? Kathleen Sebelius was walking recently in her northwest Topeka neighborhood when, she says, a car pulled up beside her. The mother and four girls inside rolled the windows down.

“She said, ‘I really hate to interrupt you, but they are so anxious to meet you,’ and ‘Girls, this is the governor,'” Sebelius recalled. “And they all went, ‘This is so cool.'”

A year has passed since Sebelius was elected governor and, she said, the biggest surprise is how intensely interested Kansans are in meeting, talking to, getting autographs from and even touching their chief executive.

She acknowledged during an interview this week that she still was getting used to a heightened level of celebrity, something that makes being governor a “different gig” from her previous jobs as state representative and insurance commissioner.

Sebelius is one of 24 U.S. governors who were elected in 2002.

“I think it really is the office,” Sebelius said. “But it’s at a whole different, much more intense and visible level than I ever, ever imagined.”

Sebelius said her comment might seem odd, given that she spent eight years in the Kansas House before winning the first of two terms as insurance commissioner in 1994. She said she was used to being recognized — and talked about.

“People want to touch the governor,” she said. “They want to talk to the governor. They want me to sign, you know, their menu, or meet their daughter, or have my picture taken.”

Former Gov. Mike Hayden, who now works for Sebelius as wildlife and parks secretary, said he was taken aback by the same phenomenon after his election in 1986.

Hayden had served 12 years in the Kansas House, the last four as speaker, making him a statewide political figure.

However, he said, even as speaker, he was able to “fly under the radar,” because, “Most Kansans can’t recognize the speaker of the House on the street.”

Hayden said he believed Kansas governors faced more celebrity-like moments than members of the state’s congressional delegation because members of Congress spend much of their time in Washington.

Also, he said, a Kansas chief executive still tends to remain accessible even after moving into Cedar Crest, the governor’s residence.

“People still feel close to their government here,” Hayden said. “It still is a very special thing in our state to meet a governor.”

Sebelius said she might also get additional attention because she is only the second woman to hold her job — making her easier to recognize.

“I can’t tell you the number of young girls who come up to me,” Sebelius said. “I’m never anonymous, and I have to remind myself of that.”