Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona died Thursday at age 84 following complications from a neurological disease that led to dementia, his family announced. Kyl, a Republican who served in both the House and Senate, was first diagnosed with the condition in December 2025 and stepped away from public life at that time.
Kyl’s career spanned nearly three decades in Congress, including eight years in the House and 18 years in the Senate, as well as a four-month partial term to fill the vacancy left by the late Sen. John McCain. He briefly returned to the Senate in 2018 after McCain’s death before retiring from politics.
Kyl was a key figure in several high-profile Senate roles, including serving as Senate Minority Whip during his final full term. He also played a central role in the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and was instrumental in shaping water policies in the western United States. Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, described Kyl in a 2025 interview as a "workhorse" in Washington, noting his habit of reading Senate business while traveling in coach class on flights.
Kyl retired from Congress in 2013 and later worked as a lobbyist for Covington and Burling. He returned to the Senate briefly in 2018 to fill McCain’s seat before rejoining the private sector. His 2018 appointment drew praise from then-President Donald Trump, who called Kyl an "extraordinary senator."
In a 2012 conversation with former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, Kyl reflected on his legislative career, stating, "At the federal level, and I regret to say that this is the case, but probably a lot of my better achievements were in preventing bad things from happening rather than forcing good things to happen."
Kyl’s family did not provide additional details about his death beyond the complications related to his neurological condition.