Kirkpatrick took nearly two-thirds of the vote, while former Lt. Gov. Raquel Marquez received only a quarter of votes cast.
The attorney general was heavily favored to win. He enjoyed strong support from the party's base and from moderates, while Marquez's support came mostly from the party's far-right fringes.
Marquez entered the race late, and she began her campaign with scandal.
The former lieutenant governor has been sued by former employees of her office who accuse her of harassment and creating a hostile workplace.
The allegations stem back to Marquez's tenure in office, almost a decade ago.
Though she admitted she's a tough boss and doesn't "take any crap," Marquez has denied creating a hostile work environment.
The Kirkpatrick campaign largely ignored Marquez, initially. But her repeated attacks on Kirkpatrick's conservative credentials, and even his masculinity, precipitated a response from the Kirkpatrick campaign.
"Andy Kirkpatrick wears suits and ties. He doesn't know what it's like to be a real man and work on a ranch," says the narrator in one pro-Marquez ad. The commercial featured a sweaty Marquez loading hay bales from a field onto a trailer.
"You can't trust someone who doesn't understand what hard work is all about," the narrator says.
Kirkpatrick fired back, defending his conservative record, in which he sued the McCaren administration more than 70 times.
"And not all men wear overalls and boots," he says in an ad for his campaign. The videos shows him walking into his house and wrestling with his young children in a dress shirt and tie.
Kirkpatrick later posted a commercial featuring him outside doing yard work. The commercial largely got panned by Marquez supporters as contrived.
In an interview with The Grassadellia City Times, Kirkpatrick admitted his white collar job, but he said he spends as much time outside as possible.
"I'm always outside with my kids, working in the yard, barbecuing, driving my tractor around my property, or I'm out at the lake or driving dirt bikes and ATVs with my boys," he said.
State party leaders largely stayed silent on the personal attacks during the CNS governor's primary race. But former governor-turned-senator Jen Stevens Taylor lamented that voters had to hear about personalities and masculinity instead of the issues.
"At the end of the day, I don't think the voters of Remmington really care much about how many hours Andy Kirkpatrick works outside. I think they care about the issues," said Stevens-Taylor.
In the end, the attacks did little to hurt Kirkpatrick. He won a majority in 28 out of 30 counties, and tallied over 90% of the votes in some counties.
The attorney general racked up huge wins in the state's most-populated counties, including over 91% in Ferrier County, the third most-populous county in the state, and almost 74% in Benham, the state's most-populous.
It was more than enough for Marquez to quickly concede. She called Kirkpatrick just 45 minutes into the vote counting.
"I congratulate Andy Kirkpatrick on his win in this race, and I hope he can beat Matt Hoffbourn in the fall," said Marquez at her election night party in Alexandria, southwest of Remmington City.
At his celebration up north in Annington, Kirkpatrick thanked his supporters and pledged to run a clean campaign against Hoffbourn, the incumbent Nationalist governor.
"Matt Hoffbourn and I disagree on just about every issue, and I look forward to showing Remmingtonians my vision for our state and how my ideas differ with his," said Kirkpatrick.
Hoffbourn, who is also from Annington in the state's northeast, congratulated Kirkpatrick on his X account (formerly Twitter).
"I look forward to debating the issues with you, Andy," wrote Hoffbourn.
The Remmington governor's race is rated as "Leans Conservative" by most political prognosticators.
***Remmington Governor's Race -- Conservative Primary -- Unofficial Results***
| 25.37% | 74.63% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 142,837 | 420,193 | 0 | 0 |
| Marquez | Kirkpatrick | ||||||
| 25.37% | 74.63% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 563,030 | |||
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