Former Sen. Jon Kyl to replace McCain in the Senate

Jon Kyl.
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) will appoint Jon Kyl to the Senate seat left open by the late Sen. John McCain, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Kyl is a former Republican senator for Arizona, serving three terms alongside McCain as one of the highest-ranked GOP lawmakers before retiring in 2013. He has agreed to serve until a special election can be held in 2020 but has indicated that he will not run to keep the seat at that time, reports The Arizona Republic. He may be sworn into office as early as Tuesday night.

Since retiring from politics, Kyl has worked as a lobbyist with Covington and Burling, representing financial service companies and pharmaceutical industries, The Daily Beast reports. He has also aided Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in his preparation for this week's confirmation hearings.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

McCain died last month after a yearlong bout with brain cancer. His widow, Cindy McCain, called Kyl a "dear friend" and expressed support for his appointment. Read more at The New York Times.

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Summer Meza

Summer is news editor at TheWeek.com, and has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A graduate of Columbia Journalism School and Santa Clara University, she now lives in New York with two cats.