Arizona Sen. John McCain died eight days ago. In that time, he has been commemorated, venerated and explicated by people who knew him as a man, a public servant and an, at times, a cantankerous politician who didn’t mince words but could also be moved to tears.
McCain will be laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, today, after several days of memorials in Phoenix and Washington.
The question turns to who will replace McCain as Arizona’s senator until the next general election in 2020. The person must be a Republican, and will be appointed by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. The winner of the 2020 election would fill out the rest of the six-year term, which ends in January 2023.
Ducey has said he wouldn’t speak publicly about the replacement process until after McCain had been buried. Of course, there’s been speculation since the moment McCain announced he was fighting brain cancer, roughly a year ago. Ducey has said he won’t appoint himself to the seat.
It isn’t publicly known if McCain gave a recommendation, but his former campaign manager and McCain family spokesman Rick Davis said this week that McCain “has always been someone who’s encouraged participation in politics, especially in the Republican Party, with minorities and women.
“I think a Hispanic woman probably would’ve been his pick for a successor if he would’ve lived long enough,” Davis said.
It is impossible, of course, to replace John McCain. He was Arizona’s senator for more than 30 years, served on powerful committees and accumulated a wealth of knowledge about foreign relations, water policy and more. That kind of institutional knowledge can’t be matched.
But, Arizona must be represented in the Senate and, unless Ducey chooses former Sen. Jon Kyl, our state will have two new senators. Sen. Jeff Flake is retiring and will be replaced by Democrat Kyrsten Sinema or Republican Martha McSally in the November general election.
Ducey’s choice should be a person in McCain’s mold — a Republican who does not hew to the Trumpian wing of the party. McCain, whose “maverick” image didn’t always match his consistently conservative voting record, defeated two far-right primary challenges: JD Hayworth in 2010 and Kelli Ward in 2016.
McCain originally endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2016, but revoked his approval after a tape recording surfaced of Trump bragging about groping women. Since then, their mutual enmity only festered.
While we talk about “McCain’s seat” in the Senate, the seat truly belongs to Arizonans. It would dishonor McCain, and do an extreme disservice to the voters who elected him in 2016, to install a Trump supporter in McCain’s Senate seat.
