PHOENIX | Arizona’s governor has tapped Rep. Martha McSally to replace U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl in the U.S. Senate seat once controlled by Sen. John McCain.
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey announced Tuesday that McSally will assume the position once Kyl’s resignation becomes effective Dec. 31. McSally last month lost a race for Arizona’s other Senate seat to Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.
“With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona,” Ducey said in a statement. “I thank her for taking on this significant responsibility and look forward to working with her and Senator-Elect Sinema to get positive things done.”
McSally will serve until the 2020 election, when Arizona residents will elect someone to serve the final two years of McCain’s term.
Kyl was appointed after McCain’s death from brain cancer in August. He previously served in the Senate for Arizona and had noted he would only commit to serving until the end of 2018.
The appointment places Arizona back in the political limelight just a month after Democrats won their first statewide race in 10 years. Democrats hope that the state swings again in 2020 and are expected to target it both in the presidential race and the contest for McCain’s seat.
U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, former astronaut and current gun control advocate Mark Kelly and former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, who left the GOP this year, have all considered running as Democrats for the post.
The intense interest in the seat was a factor in Ducey’s convoluted decisions. He initially appointed Kyl while the governor himself was campaigning for re-election. By picking Kyl, Ducey dodged tough political decisions that could have complicated his own re-election bid.
McSally is a two-term congresswoman who was long considered for the Senate by the state’s GOP establishment. The first female combat pilot, McSally once sued the U.S. military so she would not be required to wear a head covering while stationed in the Middle East. She rose to the rank of colonel in the Air Force before entering politics. She got a taste for it through working for Kyl’s office as a national security aide.