McSally Appointed to Arizona Senate Seat Once Held by McCain

Ducey, who easily won re-election last month as McSally was defeated in her bid for Arizona’s other Senate seat, hailed her combat service as an Air Force pilot and two terms in the House.

“With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona’s interests in the U.S. Senate,” Ducey said in a statement.

McSally will enter the Senate at the start of the year, replacing Sen. Jon Kyl, the senator-turned-lobbyist who returned to the chamber as a caretaker in the months immediately following McCain’s death in August. Kyl announced last week he would resign at the end of the year.

In an unusual twist, McSally will be paired with the woman who just beat her, Sen.-elect Kyrsten Sinema. It was McSally’s performance in that campaign, which she lost by just over 2 points after struggling to appeal to moderate voters, that gave Ducey and his advisers pause about appointing her, according to Republicans familiar with their thinking.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., advocated for McSally, and the governor recognized that she alone had the sort of fundraising base and statewide name recognition that will be pivotal in 2020, when she will have to run again to serve out McCain’s unexpired term.

To receive the appointment, though, the Tucson-area lawmaker was encouraged by the governor to make amends with the McCain family. McSally, who distanced herself from McCain during the Republican primary this year, visited the late senator’s widow, Cindy, on Friday in Phoenix.

The meeting went well enough that an individual close to the family said afterward that McCain would not oppose the appointment. But on Tuesday she offered more advice for McSally and praise for Ducey than she did enthusiasm about his selection.

“My husband’s greatest legacy was placing service to AZ & USA ahead of his own self-interest,” McCain wrote on Twitter. “I respect @dougducey’s decision to appoint @RepMcSally to fill the remainder of his term. Arizonans will be pulling for her, hoping that she will follow his example of selfless leadership.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.