By Kevin Murphy
OVERLAND PARK Kan. (Reuters) - Kansas is known as a reliably Republican state but as the polls closed Tuesday night the fates of two longtime party leaders, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts and Governor Sam Brownback, were in serious doubt.
Voter turnout was brisk through the day for the hotly contested races, and national leaders from both parties were keeping a close eye on the contest between 78-year-old Roberts, who barely won the Republican primary over a challenger backed by the conservative Tea Party movement, and political newcomer Greg Orman, a millionaire businessman running as an independent.
The race could be critical for Republicans, who need to hold onto incumbents and gain six seats to take control of the U.S. Senate.
Early results after polls closed showed Orman and Roberts tied with each getting 48 percent of the vote.
Hundreds of Orman supporters were gathered at a convention center in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park to await election results.
"The feeling is pretty positive," said Joe Forlenza, a retired businessman who has voted for Roberts in the past but is now supporting Orman. "People are pretty much fed up with what is going on in Washington."
Roberts supporters were watching results come in at a hotel in the state capital of Topeka.
Earlier Tuesday, shortly after casting his own ballot, Orman told reporters he felt confident about his chances.
"The voters of Kansas are going to send a strong message to Washington that you can't hide behind your party labels," said Orman, who said that if he is elected he will caucus with whichever party controls the Senate. "You've got to roll up your sleeves and get things done."
Kansas has elected only Republicans to the U.S. Senate since 1932. But Orman's candidacy soared as he painted Roberts as an out-of-touch contributer to political gridlock in Washington, and after the Democratic contender pulled out of the race in September.
"Orman is not well-known and doesn't have a record of public service but I think that may be a good thing," said former Republican Party worker Karen Johnson. "People are just dissatisfied with Congress and all the things that don't get done."
Roberts has been trying to counter Orman's rise in the polls by calling him a Democrat in disguise, citing his campaign contributions to top Democrats.
The governor's race was also closely contested. Brownback, a former U.S. senator and presidential candidate was struggling to fend off his challenger - Democratic state representative Paul Davis, who has pledged to freeze Brownback's controversial tax cut program.
Early election results showed Davis with a slight lead over Brownback. Davis went from a long shot to strong contender after a drop in state revenue that coincided with the income tax cuts engineered by Brownback. The cuts prompted Standard & Poor's to slash the Kansas bond rating in August and warn of a budget deficit next year.
Brownback's advertising has cast Davis as a big-spending liberal but many moderate Republicans have thrown their support to Davis.
(Additional reporting and writing by Carey Gillam; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Eric Walsh)