WASHINGTON - Sen. Jon Kyl was officially sworn in Wednesday on the U.S. Senate floor, replacing the late Sen. John McCain, as senator of Arizona.
As Sen. Jeff Flake looked on and Kyl's grandson held the Bible, Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath.
Kyl's swearing-in marks his second tour as Arizona's senator. He previously served as senator from 1995 through Jan. 3, 2013.
Gov. Doug Ducey announced Kyl would fill McCain's seat Tuesday, just nine days after the late senator's death.
Flake, called Kyl "an excellent choice," and both Cindy and Meghan McCain were also pleased with Ducey's pick.
"I’m very grateful to Jon Kyl for his willingness to return to public service to take my father’s seat in the Senate," Meghan McCain tweeted. "I can think of no one better to keep fighting for the country and state he held so dear."
Kyl served alongside John McCain in the U.S. Senate for nearly two decades.
As Kyl prepared to leave the Senate back in 2012, McCain said Kyl had been "my leader, my senior partner in much of the work we've done in Arizona."
During McCain's lying in state ceremony at the Arizona Capitol, Kyl said of McCain, "we can be proud he was our senator."
Although he could serve until the 2020 election, Kyl said he has only committed to serving in the role through the current session of Congress, which ends early next year.