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.

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.