Kansas re-elected both Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, despite predictions that both could lose in a backlash against the state’s extreme conservative and anti-choice policies.

The Senate race was a toss-up to the end, although many polls had put Independent Greg Orman slightly ahead of the long-serving Roberts, who was assailed by Tea Party activists until the waning days of the campaign.

Brownback’s win, however, was a surprise to observers who confidently predicted he would lose. Five Thirty Eight’s election model gave him only an 18 percent chance of victory.

Many observers thought a victory for Orman, who is pro-choice and may have decided to caucus with Democrats, would have been an additional referendum against Brownback’s hard-right turn.

Brownback oversaw the largest tax cuts for the wealthy in the state’s history, which have led to ballooning budget deficits and severe cuts to the public education system.

He also slashed the social safety net and signed into law a sweeping omnibus anti-abortion bill that included fetal “personhood” language.

Kansas has long been known for being conservative, and has not elected a non-Republican Senator since the 1930s.

But Kansas conservatism has historically been much more moderate than Brownback’s, and the governor has faced a huge backlash from scores of Republican party leaders for his right-wing stances and extremist economic policies.

This backlash was expected to carry Brownback, and likely Roberts, out of office.

But a wave year for Republicans buoyed both candidates, and could be seen as a victory for hard-right conservative philosophy over a moderate one in Kansas.

Brownback, who has close ties to the billionaire Koch brothers, has already promised to “hit the accelerator” on further tax cuts once re-elected, apparently unfazed by the devastating economic consequences of his tax breaks for the state’s wealthiest residents.

His victory over Democrat Paul Davis also drastically reduces the chances that Kansas residents will benefit from Medicaid expansion anytime soon, although Davis would have had trouble passing it through the conservative Kansas legislature.

Brownback is convinced that his austerity policies will lead to more economic growth over time and be vindicated in the long run, and that his critics have been too quick to judge.

The far right also may have had a hand in re-electing Roberts, who is vocally anti-choice and called support for abortion rights “unconscionable” in one debate.

The Tea Party Patriots, which spent $75,000 supporting a primary challenge to unseat Roberts, did an about-face at the last minute to support the incumbent Republican as Orman built a lead in the polls.