Former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl has died at 84.
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A friend of the Kyl family said the Republican lawmaker from Arizona died of a neurological disorder, the New York Post reported. Kyl announced in December 2025 that he had been diagnosed with dementia. Since then, he has largely remained out of the public eye.
Former Senator Jon Kyl Served Nearly Three Decades in Congress
In nearly three decades in both chambers of Congress, Kyl saw his party change dramatically. He began under Ronald Reagan's presidency and served through President Donald Trump's first term.
Former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, considered Kyl a mentor and called him a "workhorse" among Washington, D.C.'s "showhorses."
"If you saw him on the plane, he was sitting in the aisle, in coach, and he was reading," Ducey said. "And he was reading potential bills or Senate business."
Ducey appointed Kyl to Congress in 2018 after the death of John McCain, five years after he initially retired in 2013. President Trump called him an "extraordinary senator." Kyl stayed for less than four months before resuming his job as a lobbyist.
"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," he said in a 2012 interview.
Kyl Had a "Legendary" Work Ethic
Kyl was born on April 25, 1942, in Oakland, Nebraska. His father was a U.S. Representative, representing a rural district in Iowa. He later attended the University of Arizona in Tucson. There, he met his wife, Caryll, and earned his law degree.
Kyl's legacy was perhaps shaped by water. Before being elected to the House in 1987, he was a lawyer for a large water utility and helped structure Arizona's groundwater code.
Then, in 2004, Kyl authored legislation that provided one of the largest tribal water rights settlements. Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who called Kyl's work ethic "legendary," said the settlement was 15 years in the making. Arizona State University's Kyl Center for Water Policy is named for him.
As a lobbyist, Kyl also helped guide U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh through his confirmation hearings. When he announced his dementia diagnosis, Kyl said he still considered himself a "very fortunate man."
