The 1996 United States Senate special election in Kansas was held November 5, 1996, concurrently with the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

and the regularly scheduled

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

for the state's Class 2 seat. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his t ...

, the Republican nominee for president, had resigned on June 11, 1996, in order to focus on his presidential campaign. Lieutenant Governor Sheila Frahm was appointed to the seat upon Dole's resignation, but she was defeated in the primary by Representative

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat, and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Fr ...

, who went on to win the general election. In the

2014 Kansas gubernatorial election The 2014 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of Kansas, concurrently with the election of Kansas' Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other stat ...

, Docking ran for Lieutenant Governor on the Democratic ticket attempting to oust Brownback, who ultimately prevailed by a margin of 3.7%.

Republican primary

Candidates

, U.S. Congressman and former Kansas Secretary of Agriculture * Sheila Frahm, incumbent U.S. Senator and former Lieutenant Governor of Kansas * Christina Campbell-Cline, accountant

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

* Jill Docking, businesswoman and daughter-in-law of former Kansas Governor Robert Docking *

Joan Finney Joan Marie Finney (née McInroy; February 12, 1925 – July 28, 2001) was an American politician who served as the 42nd governor of Kansas from 1991 to 1995. Prior to her tenure as governor, Finney served four terms as the Kansas state treasure ...

, former

Governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and former Kansas State Treasurer

Results

General election

Candidates

(R), U.S. Congressman and former Kansas Secretary of Agriculture * Jill Docking (D), businesswoman and daughter-in-law of former Kansas Governor Robert Docking * Donald Klaassen (Reform), businessman

Results

Aftermath

Brownback was elected to a full term in 1998, and was re-elected to a second full term in 2004. In 2010, Brownback was elected

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, and won a second term in 2014. He resigned as governor on January 31, 2018, to accept an ambassadorship and was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor

Jeff Colyer Jeffrey William Colyer (born June 3, 1960) is an American surgeon and politician who served as the 47th governor of Kansas from January 31, 2018, to January 14, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 49th lieutenant governor of Kan ...

. Brownback's seat is now held by

Jerry Moran Gerald Wesley Moran ( ; born May 29, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Kansas, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was chair of the National Republican Senator ...

, a U.S. Representative from Kansas' 1st district for seven terms (1997-2011). Docking was the running mate of the Democratic nominee, state representative and Minority Leader Paul Davis, in the 2014 election.

References

{{1996 United States elections United States Senate Special

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

Kansas 1996 Kansas 1996 United States Senate 1996

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

Results

Aftermath

See also

References