Former Sen. Jon Kyl is heading back to the Senate to replace the late Sen. John McCain.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced the appointment returning Kyl to the Senate Tuesday afternoon, three days after McCain was laid to rest at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, citing the former three-term senator’s stature and ability to hit the ground running in Washington.
“As I contemplated who can best serve our state in the U.S. Senate, I kept coming back to one name and one person: Jon Kyl,” Ducey said at a press conference while flanked by Kyl. “There is no one in Arizona with the stature of Sen. Jon Kyl. He is a man without a comparable peer.”
Kyl, a former Arizona Republican senator who retired after the 2012 election, had been name-checked as a possibility to fill out the next two years until a special election is held in 2020. Kyl’s appointment also earned the stamp of approval from Cindy McCain, the late senator’s wife.
“Jon Kyl is a dear friend of mine and John’s. It’s a great tribute to John that he is prepared to go back into public service to help the state of Arizona,” McCain said in a tweet Tuesday afternoon.
Kyl said that he had no intention of ever serving in the Senate again after leaving six years ago and only committed to serving through the end of 2018, with Ducey holding out hope that he will serve longer. Kyl confirmed he will not run for the seat in a 2020 special election.
According to a source familiar with the situation, Kyl is holding the seat until Kirk Adams, Ducey’s chief of staff, can run for it in two years. The source also said that the White House is not pleased by the appointment and wanted someone who will run for the seat in 2020 rather than a caretaker.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who is departing the Senate at the end of the year, confirmed the news and praised the expected announcement, calling Kyl an “excellent choice.”
“Governor Ducey has selected Senator Jon Kyl as Senator McCain’s replacement. What an excellent choice! There is no one more qualified and Arizona is well served. Kudos to Senator Kyl for his willingness to serve once again,” Flake tweeted.
Despite his retirement from the Senate, Kyl has remained active in the political sphere. Since 2013, Kyl has lobbied for Covington & Burling, a top-tier Washington law firm and represented companies and trade associations in the defense, financial services, technology, and pharmaceutical industries.
He currently serves as the sherpa for Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court. The confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh began Tuesday morning.
