Jon Kyl, a former Republican US senator from Arizona, died on Thursday at 84, his family announced. The cause of death was complications from a neurological disease. Last December, Kyl had announced a diagnosis of dementia.
Kyl was first elected to the US House in 1986 and then to the Senate in 1994, serving three terms. He was the Republican whip from 2007 until he left the Senate at the beginning of 2013.
In 2018, Kyl returned to public service to assist with the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He was appointed by Arizona's then-Republican governor, Doug Ducey, to fill a vacant Senate seat for three months, during which he voted to confirm Kavanaugh before resigning.