Abortion rights supporters used conservative-sounding language about government mandates and personal freedom in their pitch to voters, and made a point of reaching out to independents, Libertarians and moderate Republicans.

“Some of these issues really are nonpartisan — people don’t see it through the partisan lens the way a lot of us do,” Ashley All, a spokeswoman for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, which led the effort to defeat the amendment, told reporters on Wednesday. “We were able to engage folks in a nonpartisan conversation about this issue, and that is something I think that really played to our strengths.”…

“We won this race blindfolded and with one arm tied behind our back. And we still beat the tar out of them,” said State Representative Stephanie Clayton, a Democrat from Overland Park, in suburban Kansas City, who until a few years ago served as a moderate Republican in the Statehouse.

The victory, however, reflects the state’s specific brand of politics: conservative and pragmatic, with an independent streak that often defies expectations. The state hasn’t supported a Democrat for president since 1964, but routinely elects Democratic governors.