Jon Kyl Dies at 84

The story so far

As of September 17, 2026

Jon Kyl, the former Arizona senator who spent nearly three decades in Congress, has died at 84 from complications of dementia. He had stepped back from public life in December 2025 after announcing the diagnosis. His death on Wednesday night closes the career of one of Arizona’s most durable power brokers in Washington.

Kyl built influence by mastering policy and procedure more than headlines. He served in the House from 1987 to 1995 and in the Senate from 1995 to 2013, rising in 2007 to the second-ranking Republican in the Senate’s leadership. From seats on the Finance and Judiciary committees, he shaped tax debates and judicial confirmations. Even after retiring, he steered Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court bid through the Senate and, during a brief return to the chamber in 2018, cast a decisive vote for that confirmation.

His deepest footprint is in Western water. Trained as a water-law attorney, Kyl helped negotiate major tribal water-rights settlements, including the Arizona Water Settlements Act of 2004, which still governs how Arizona and several tribes divide scarce Colorado River supplies. Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy exists because of that record, and it signals how much of his work endures in the rules that manage drought and growth in the state.

The through line that explains his late-career moments is trust from different corners of Republican politics in Arizona. When John McCain died in 2018, the governor tapped Kyl to steady the seat for four months, a choice that reflected confidence in his ability to bridge factions and move complex business. With his dementia diagnosis nine months ago and his death now, Arizona loses a go-to fixer on water and confirmations; what remains are the settlements he brokered, the court he helped shape, and a template for behind-the-scenes leadership that is rarer in today’s politics.