Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona has died
Conservative principles face implementation challenges as policy meets political complexity.
Jon Kyl was the kind of Republican the Senate doesn't make anymore. That's not a knock on the current crowd. It's just a fact about how the job changed.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, a conservative Republican who served multiple terms in both the U.S. House and Senate, died from complications of a neurological disease. He was 84.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Jon Kyl was the kind of Republican the Senate doesn't make anymore. That's not a knock on the current crowd. It's just a fact about how the job changed. Kyl went to Washington in 1987 and spent three decades there without ever needing to be the loudest person in the room. He showed up, did the work, and let the results speak. When a tough Supreme Court confirmation needed a steady hand, Kyl was the one guiding it through. That was him. Understated, effective, serious.
His second act in the Senate is worth remembering on its own. After John McCain died, Arizona's governor called Kyl and asked him to step in. He was 76, happily retired, and had nothing left to prove. He said yes anyway. Then he served out the term, helped steady a transition, and walked away. A responsibility, not a platform. How many politicians do you know who would pass.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.