<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596806244390.png" alt=" Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>BY JIM MCLEAN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-08-06/conservative-wins-in-republican-kansas-primaries-set-up-conflict-with-the-democratic-governor">Kansas News Service</a>TOPEKA — A near sweep by conservatives over moderates 
in several primary races this week sets up more conflict over the next 
two years between the Republican-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. 
Laura Kelly.“There will be a lot of feuding and fighting going 
on, particularly given the COVID situation,” said Rep. Tom Phillips, a 
moderate Republican from Manhattan who isn’t seeking a fifth term.Republican
 leaders could further limit Kelly’s power to guide the state’s response
 to the pandemic and power past her objections to reducing corporate 
taxes.Outgoing Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita 
Republican, said the primary showed that “Kansans want to live in a 
culture of limited government.”“My focus now is to preserve our 
veto-proof majority in the Kansas Senate to keep a check on Laura 
Kelly’s liberal policies,” Wagle said in a statement.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596806331296.png" alt="Susan Wagle / Jim McLean photo" />
 <figcaption>Susan Wagle / Jim McLean photo</figcaption>
 </figure>In each of the past two years, Kelly had enough lawmakers committed 
to expand Medicaid. But in both of those sessions, Wagle succeeded in 
blocking votes on the issue that Kelly made the signature of her 
campaign for governor.The primary results make expansion and even longer shot, Phillips said.“Unless
 the governor has some grand compromise that she’s willing to work out 
with the conservatives,” he said, “I just don’t think it moves forward.”Several
 moderate Republican senators who supported expansion and voted to 
repeal Republican former Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts lost to 
conservatives in Tuesday’s primary.Many of those races weren’t 
close. Sen. John Skubal of Overland Park got only 36% of the vote in his
 loss to Rep. Kellie Warren. Conservative challenger Mark Steffen beat 
Sen. Ed Berger, a former president of Hutchinson Community College, 57% 
to 43%. In southwest Kansas, moderate Sen. Mary Jo Taylor suffered a 
20-point loss to conservative challenger Alicia Straub. And Sen. Randall
 Hardy of Salina managed only 37 % in his race against conservative Rep.
 J.R. Claeys.“The Republican Party, both in Kansas and 
nationally, is getting more conservative,” said University of Kansas 
political scientist Patrick Miller.He said that puts moderates at an automatic disadvantage in primaries.“There
 are just fewer moderates in the Republican Party than there were 10 
years ago,” he said, “especially in rural and small-town Kansas.”GOP
 moderates beat conservatives in only two Senate primaries. Rep. Brenda 
Dietrich defeated Sen. Eric Rucker in a Topeka district and Sen. John 
Doll of Garden City — he ran for lieutenant governor as an independent 
in 2018 — held off a challenge from conservative Lon Pishny.Money
 and endorsements from the Kansas Chamber and anti-abortion 
organizations helped fuel the effort by conservatives to win back seats 
they lost in 2016.Abortion was a big issue in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/janedirksforkansas/" target="_blank">Jane Dirks’</a> win over Rep. Jan Kessinger in a Johnson County district that includes parts of Leawood and Overland Park. Kessinger was one of<a href="https://www.kcur.org/government/2020-02-07/four-kansas-republicans-stopped-their-partys-anti-abortion-bill-but-gop-says-its-not-over" target="_blank"> only four House Republicans</a> to vote against a proposed constitutional amendment sought by anti-abortion advocates.That
 vote mobilized groups like the anti-abortion Students for Life Action, 
which contacted 4,000 voters in the district to make sure they knew 
about Kessinger’s vote against putting the amendment on the August 
primary ballot.Titus Folks, an organizer for the group, said Kessinger’s defeat is “one that Republican politicians should take note of.”“It
 is overwhelmingly clear that pro-life issues are a priority for Kansas 
conservatives,” he said in a statement congratulating Dirks.Dirks won the GOP primary with relative ease. But Miller, the KU political scientist, said she could lose to<a href="https://www.poskin4ks.com/" target="_blank"> Democrat Mari-Lynn Poskin</a> in the general election.“That’s
 a district that Democrats are probably going to be favored to pick up 
because of (the moderate) Kessinger’s loss,” Miller said. He said voters
 in the district favored Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in the 2016 
presidential race.Conservative Republicans could also be vulnerable in other Johnson County districts that, Miller said, “are getting very blue.”That includes the race between <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mikethompsonforkansas/" target="_blank">Republican Sen. Mike Thompson</a> and Democrat Lindsey Constance in a district that covers parts of Shawnee, Overland Park, Merriam and Bonner Springs.Miller sees a similar dynamic in the contest between Warren, the primary winner over Skubal in the 11th Senate District, and <a href="https://www.joykoesten.com/" target="_blank">Democrat Joy Koesten</a>, a former Republican member of the Kansas House who switched parties in 2018.<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Cindy-Holscher-for-Kansas-1631827813750587/" target="_blank">Democratic Rep. Cindy Holscher</a>
 is a strong contender to win a seat now held by Republican Senate 
Majority Leader Jim Denning, who isn’t running for re-election. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ToddforKansas/" target="_blank">Republican James Todd</a>, a former member of the Kansas House, is her general election opponent.Republican
 incumbents Sen. Rob Olson and Rep. Charlotte Esau could also be 
vulnerable in districts transitioning from red to purple, Miller said.Democratic
 gains in the general election could offset those made by conservative 
Republicans in the primary, but only partially, Miller said.The 
next Legislature “could have more Democrats” but be more conservative 
overall, Miller said, “because the Republican caucus gets more 
conservative.”Jim McLean is the senior correspondent for the 
Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW 
and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of 
Kansans, their communities and civic life. You can reach him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/jmcleanks" target="_blank">@jmcleanks</a> or email jim@kcur.org.

Conservative wins in Kan. set up conflict with Democratic governor