Jon Kyl

Jon Llewellyn Kyl was an American lawyer, lobbyist and Republican politician who represented Arizona in Congress for nearly three decades. Born on 25 April 1942 in Oakland, Nebraska, he was the son of U.S. Representative John Henry Kyl and Arlene Griffith Kyl. After time in Iowa, he enrolled at the University of Arizona, earned a bachelor's degree with honors in 1964 and a law degree in 1966, and served as editor-in-chief of the Arizona Law Review. He married Caryll Collins in 1964; they raised two children and later had four grandchildren.

Before elective office Kyl practiced with Jennings, Strouss and Salmon in Phoenix and worked with the Mountain States Legal Foundation. Voters sent him to the U.S. House from Arizona's 4th district in 1986, and he served four terms from 1987 to 1995. In 1994 he won election to the U.S. Senate, where he remained until retiring in January 2013. Colleagues elevated him through Republican leadership: Policy Committee chair, Conference chair, and from 2007 to 2013 Senate Minority Whip under Mitch McConnell. Time named him one of America's ten best senators in 2006; National Journal ranked him among the chamber's most conservative members.

Kyl's legislative imprint included co-authoring the Crime Victims' Rights Act with Dianne Feinstein, hard-line work on immigration and border security, opposition to the Affordable Care Act, and a leading Senate role in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. He voted to confirm John Roberts and Samuel Alito and later shepherded Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination as the nominee's Senate 'sherpa' in 2018. After leaving office he joined Covington and Burling as a lobbyist and attorney.

In September 2018 Governor Doug Ducey appointed Kyl to fill the Senate seat left vacant by John McCain's death. Kyl became one of the few modern senators to return by appointment, then resigned effective 31 December 2018 so Martha McSally could take the seat. On 30 December 2025 he announced a neurological disease manifesting as dementia and withdrew from public life, quoting Ronald Reagan on entering the sunset of life.

Jon Kyl died on 17 September 2026 at the age of 84 from complications of that neurological disease, his family said. Arizona and national figures remembered a meticulous dealmaker, Presbyterian by faith, and a statesman who held both of Arizona's Senate seats at different times. He is survived by Caryll, their children Kristine and John, and their grandchildren.