Sen.-elect Kyrsten Sinema will be sworn into office before Martha McSally, who Gov. Doug Ducey appointed Tuesday to fill Arizona’s U.S. Senate vacancy.

Gov. Doug Ducey has appointed Martha McSally to fill the U.S. Senate seat that Sen. Jon Kyl will vacate at the end of the year.

Kyl, who never planned to serve beyond this congressional term, will step down from the appointed position, leaving Gov. Doug Ducey to appoint someone new to serve until 2020.

“I want you to know I’m going to serve the four years of my governorship,” Ducey, who was just re-elected, said in a Monday interview on KTAR.

Two-time U.S. Senate candidate Kelli Ward said Monday she'll seek the top post in the Arizona Republican Party and likely forego any effort to seek the late Sen. John McCain's seat in 2020.

Spending on campaign ads in Arizona reached a record $129 million this year, part of a national trend that saw cable and broadcast election ad spending top $3 billion for the first time in a midterm election cycle.

Despite a record number of women running for office this year, Arizona will actually lose one female elected official when congressional and legislative delegations take office in January.

Katie Hobbs is going to be Arizona’s next secretary of state – and a heartbeat away from governor – absent a sudden and unlikely last-minute burst of votes from Maricopa County favoring Steve Gaynor, her Republican opponent.

The latest batch of votes counted Monday put the U.S. Senate out of the reach of Republican Martha McSally and into the hands of an Arizona Democrat for the first time since 1994.

Any losing candidate in the general election who is counting on an automatic recount needs to come close to winning. Really close.