Sen. Jon Kyl will resign from the Senate at the end of the year, forcing Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to name a second replacement to fill the late Sen. John McCain’s seat.
Following McCain’s death in August, Ducey appointed Kyl, who had initially served in the Senate from 1995 to 2013, to replace him. At the time of his appointment, Kyl suggested that he might only serve through the end of the year.
On Friday, Ducey’s office announced that it had received Kyl’s resignation letter on Thursday afternoon.
“When I accepted your appointment,” Kyl wrote in the letter, “I agreed to complete the work of the 115th Congress and then reevaluate continuing to serve. I have concluded that it would be best if I resign so that your new appointee can begin the new term with all other Senators in January 2018 and can serve a full two (potentially four) years.”
Ducey’s office said that it would announce a replacement “in the near future.” Whomever he names will serve through November 2020, at which time there will be a special election to serve the remaining two years of McCain’s term.
Prospects include Rep. Martha McSally who lost a close race for Arizona’s other Senate seat to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Kirk Adams, Ducey’s former chief of staff and a former speaker of the Arizona House.