The 1996 United States Senate election in Kansas was held November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator
Nancy Kassebaum decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. Republican
Pat Roberts won the open seat.
Term limits were an issue during the campaign; while Roberts said that he was not totally opposed to term limits, he was wary of limits that did not apply to current members of Congress, saying that the proposed limits should apply to everyone. While Thompson signed the national term limits pledge from the group
Americans for Limited Terms, Roberts declined to do so, becoming the only major party candidate for the U.S. Senate in the
1996 elections to not sign the pledge.[1] However, he did say that "I plan only to serve two terms in the U.S. Senate."[2] In 2014, he was
re-elected to a fourth and final term in office, before retiring in
2020.