Kyl, Jon Llewellyn (1942-…), a Republican from Arizona, served in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2013 and again in 2018. In September 2018, Kyl was named to fill the seat of Senator John McCain, who had died in August. Kyl served in McCain’s seat through the end of 2018.
Kyl was born in Oakland, Nebraska, on April 25, 1942. In 1953, his family moved to Bloomfield, Iowa. His father, John Henry Kyl, represented Iowa in the United States House of Representatives from 1959 to 1965 and from 1967 to 1973. The younger Kyl received a bachelor’s degree in 1964 and a law degree in 1966, both from the University of Arizona at Tucson. From 1966 to 1986, he was a member of the law firm Jennings, Strouss and Salmon in Phoenix.
In 1986, Kyl was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was reelected in 1988, 1990, and 1992. He won his first election to the U.S. Senate in 1994 and took office in 1995. As a senator, Kyl supported establishing antimissile defense systems, reducing taxes, and increasing funding for security along the United States-Mexico border. He served on the Judicial and Finance committees.
In December 2007, Kyl became whip (assistant leader) of the Senate Republicans after former whip Trent Lott announced his retirement. Kyl did not seek reelection to the Senate in 2012.
McCain died on Aug. 25, 2018. On September 4, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey appointed Kyl to serve as McCain’s replacement. In December, however, Kyl announced he would step down from the Senate seat by the end of 2018. Ducey then appointed U.S. Representative Martha McSally to the seat.
