Why did Jimmy Carter perform so well in Kansas (1976)?

[blacknwhiterose]

Why did Jimmy Carter perform so well in Kansas in the 1976 election against Ford?  Carter won several counties across the state, including some typically deep-red central and western KS counties.  Ford's base was considered the Midwest while Carter's in the South, and Kansas before and since '76 has been a very safe Republican state in presidential politics outside of a few Democratic landslides.  What was Carter's appeal to Kansans in 1976?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

It's even funnier given Bob Dole was Ford's running-mate.

One factor may be that Carter simply appealed to the Evangelical voters in Kansas. Also, the post-Watergate fallout seemed to have pretty strong effect in Kansas, as Dole only barely squeaked in his 1974 reelection bid.

[darklordoftech]

Dole only barely squeaked in his 1974 reelection bid.

I wonder what the effects would have been if Dole was defeated in 1974. Would it have changed the Senate that Reagan, HW, and Clinton dealt with? Would Liddy's absence from Reagan's administration chnage things?