Sheila Sloan Frahm served in the U.S. Senate as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 from Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 for a brief period in 1996.

Frahm was born in Colby, Kansas

Colby, Kansas

Colby is a city in and the county seat of Thomas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,387.-History:...

. She was a member of the Kansas State board of education from 1985 to 1988, a member of the Kansas State Senate from 1989 to 1995, the majority leader of the Kansas Senate in 1993 and the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Kansas

Lieutenant Governor of Kansas

The Lieutenant Governor of Kansas is the lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Kansas. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket with the governor for a four-year term...

 from 1995 to 1996. While serving as lieutenant governor, Frahm also served as the state's Secretary of Administration.

She was appointed by Governor

Governor of Kansas

The Governor of the State of Kansas is the head of state for the State of Kansas, United States. Under the Kansas Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the Kansas executive branch, of the government of Kansas. The Governor is the...

 Bill Graves

Bill Graves

William Preston "Bill" Graves , was the 43rd Governor of Kansas from 1995 until 2003.Graves was born in Salina, Kansas in 1953 to parents who owned a trucking firm...

 to the Senate on June 11, 1996 to replace Bob Dole

Bob Dole

Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...

, who resigned from the Senate to devote all of his time to his Presidential campaign

United States presidential election, 1996

The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...

. Frahm ran in the special election to succeed him, but she was defeated for the Republican nomination by Sam Brownback

Sam Brownback

Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...

. Brownback went on to win the November 1996 election, and immediately took office.

Frahm moved back to Colby, Kansas

Colby, Kansas

Colby is a city in and the county seat of Thomas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,387.-History:...

, and became the executive director of the Kansas Association of Community College Trustees.