Jump to content

1996 United States Senate special election in Kansas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1996 United States Senate special election in Kansas

← 1992 November 5, 1996 1998 →
 
Nominee Sam Brownback Jill Docking
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 574,021 461,344
Percentage 53.91% 43.33%

County results
Brownback:      40–50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%
Docking:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Sheila Frahm
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Sam Brownback
Republican

The 1996 United States Senate special election in Kansas was held November 5, 1996, concurrently with the presidential election and the regularly scheduled election for the state's Class 2 seat. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, 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, who went on to win the general election over Democrat Jill Docking.

Brownback served in the U.S. Senate from 1996 to 2011 and later as Governor of Kansas from 2011 to 2018; in his successful 2014 gubernatorial re-election campaign, he had faced off again against Docking when she was the unsuccessful Democratic Lieutenant Gubernatorial nominee.

Republican primary

[edit]

Candidates

[edit]

Results

[edit]
Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sam Brownback 187,914 54.82%
Republican Sheila Frahm (incumbent) 142,487 41.57%
Republican Christina Campbell-Cline 12,378 3.61%
Total votes 342,779 100.00%

Democratic primary

[edit]

Candidates

[edit]

Results

[edit]
Democratic primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jill Docking 127,012 74.39%
Democratic Joan Finney 43,726 25.61%
Total votes 170,738 100.00%

General election

[edit]

Candidates

[edit]
  • Sam Brownback (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

[edit]
General election results[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Sam Brownback 574,021 53.91% −8.78%
Democratic Jill Docking 461,344 43.33% +12.30%
Reform Donald R. Klaassen 29,351 2.76%
Majority 112,677 10.58% −21.08%
Turnout 1,064,716
Republican hold Swing

Aftermath

[edit]

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, 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.

Brownback's seat is now held by Jerry Moran, 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 gubernatorial election.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1996 Primary Election US Senate Races".
  2. ^ "1996 Primary Election US Senate Races".
  3. ^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".