Kyl to Retire
Washington Post reports:
Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (R) plans to announce his retirement at a press conference later today, according to a high level source familiar with his thinking.
Kyl will be the fifth Senator to announce he is leaving the chamber in 2012. He joins Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D), Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) on the sidelines.
Kyl is the Senate Majority Whip, the second ranking position in Republican leadership.
Kyl was term-limited out of that job in December 2013 and would have been forced into either challenging Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for leader or leaving leadership all together.
Kyl was elected to the Senate in 1994 after serving four terms representing Arizona's 4th district in the House.
The open seat race will draw considerable interest from both national parties, as Arizona has been competitive at the presidential level in recent years.
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