For 18 years, while John McCain became a national political leader, Arizona’s junior senator, Jon Kyl, stayed in his shadow.
Dependably Republican, never one to create waves, Kyl will have no trouble readjusting into the new Trump era. That means he should be a dependable GOP vote on everything from Obamacare, to Supreme Court nominees to immigration policies.
Kyl also differed with McCain on his hallmark campaign finance reform legislation, known as McCain-Feingold. Once, while speaking to them both in Yuma, Kyl correctly predicted it would be overturned by the Supreme Court.
That led McCain to tell me, with a big smile,
“Jon and I don’t agree on every issue, I’m proud to be his partner but we’re not Tweedledum and Tweedledee.”
Kyl, however, was loyal to McCain, backing his presidential runs and being a surrogate when asked.
Kyl insists he will not seek election to the seat in 2020, leaving it wide open for a variety of Arizona Republicans and at least Democrat. Former Attorney General Grant Woods, a once highly popular statewide Republican official, and John McCain’s first chief of staff, is being urged to seek the Democratic nomination.
You can watch my interview with McCain and Kyl on campaign finance reform here: