Jon Llewellyn Kyl (/ˈkaɪl/; born April 25, 1942)[1] is an American attorney and politician. From 1995 to 2013, he served with John McCain as a United States Senator from Arizona and as Senate Minority Whip, the second-highest position in the Republican Senate leadership. He currently works in the lobbying group at the law firm Covington & Burling.[2] Following John McCain's death in August of 2018, Jon Kyl was announced as McCain's replacement until the 2020 general election.
The son of U.S. Representative John Henry Kyl, he was born and raised in Nebraska and lived for some time in Iowa. He received his bachelor's degree and law degree from the University of Arizona. He worked in Phoenix, Arizona as a lawyer and lobbyist before winning election to the United States House of Representatives, where he served from 1987 to 1995. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994 and continued to be re-elected by large margins until his retirement.
In 2006, he was recognized by Time magazine as one of America's Ten Best Senators.[3] Kyl was ranked by National Journal in 2007 as the fourth-most conservative U.S. Senator.[4] He has been a fixture of Republican policy leadership posts, chairing the Republican Policy Committee (2003–2007) and the Republican Conference (2007). In December 2007, he became Senate Minority Whip. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010 for his persuasive role in the Senate.[5]
In February 2011, Kyl announced that he would not seek re-election to the Senate in 2012 and would retire at the end of his third term,[6] which concluded on January 3, 2013. He expressly ruled out running for further office except, if offered, the Vice Presidency.[7]