Who Will Replace Jon Kyle in Arizona?

Many Republicans are hoping it will be Rep. Jeff Flake.  From Morning Jolt:

The retirement of Jon Kyl has set off a stir among Arizona Republicans, with just about every officeholder being mentioned as a potential Senate candidate. But among the teeming throngs of potential candidates, one popular pork-fighter is getting an early start: Congressman Jeff Flake.

The Arizona Republic: "Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., will announce Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate being vacated by Sen. Jon Kyl, a source has toldThe Arizona Republic. Flake, who was first elected to Congress in 2000, has long expressed interest in running for the Senate. He will make it official at an 8 a.m. news conference at the same Phoenix hotel where Kyl on Thursday announced that he will retire when his current term ends in January 2013."

At Outside the Beltway, Doug Mataconis likes what he's hearing: "Flake is a strong fiscal conservative and his addition to a Senate that already includes the likes of Tom Coburn and Rand Paul would be interesting. Of course, there's a primary to get through first: Republicans could include Flake, Franks, former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth, former state Attorney General Grant Woods, former Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, former state Treasurer Dean Martin, Maricopa County Supervisor Andy Kunasek and Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. Former U.S. Rep. John Shadegg was considered an early GOP front-runner but announced Friday that he had concluded the timing was wrong for a Senate campaign. Freshman U.S. Rep. Ben Quayle, R-Ariz., also says he has no plans to run for Kyl's seat."

Jen Cubachi is enthralled: "This is a no-brainer. Flake is one of the most popular Republicans in AZ, and he will surely garner the support of the Tea Party and conservatives around the state."

And who do you think the Democrats are talking about for this job? The leading candidate appears to be Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the congresswoman who was shot in the tragic Tucson attack on January 6th. No one knows if Giffords will ever be able to return to her current job, let alone run for and serve as Senator, but for many Democrats the only thing that counts is winning, and running Giffords for the job in their view would be a sure winner...regardless of her ability to do the job.