McSally, Sinema will be first freshmen pair from Arizona in Senate since 1912

PHOENIX — It’s been over 100 years since two freshmen senators from Arizona went to Washington, D.C., at the same time.

The streak was broken Tuesday morning when Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey appointed U.S. Rep. Martha McSally to replace Jon Kyl, who last week announced he would resign on Dec. 31.

The last time it happened, Arizona had just been granted statehood in 1912.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema got her job first, winning the seat that will be vacated in January by Republican Jeff Flake. She beat McSally in a hotly contested race – results took a week to tabulate.

McSally conceded the election Nov. 12, and congratulated Sinema in a video.

That propelled Sinema into becoming the first in her party to win a federal Senate seat in Arizona since 1994.

Here some other notable facts about the Senate pairing:

• • Sinema and McSally also are the first women to represent the state in the Senate.
  • The Arizona Mirror tweeted that Arizona joined California, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire and Washington state, in having two women in the Senate.

• McSally will become the 25th woman serving in the Senate at the start of the 116th Congress, a record high.
• McSally is the only Arizona Republican female politician with Washington experience to have run statewide recently.
• The state sent a pair of Democrats in its inaugural year of statehood– Henry Fountain Ashurst, who served from 1912 to 1941, and Marcus A. Smith, who served from 1912 to 1921.

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