The GOP controlled Kansas legislature put the referendum on the ballot. They thought the competitive GOP primaries would bring out conservative voters.
So were conservative voters as energized in the primary to turn outin record numbers? Or was their participation in traditional numbers for Kansas?
The way they went about it was utterly stupid. They removed or at least they allowed the summary to state prominently that there would be no exceptions for rape or the life of the mother. Even if you are skeptical of these exceptions you know this would be hard to swallow even for the the reddest voting populations. They also allowed the summary to take the main theme and emphasize over and over that a ‘right’ was being removed. Frankly is as if they wanted to lose.