Rep. Flake Will Run for Kyl’s Senate Seat

It hasn’t taken long for someone to throw his hat in the ring for the Senate seat Arizona Republican Jon Kyl announced he will abandon last week. GOP Rep. Jeff Flake will announce Monday that he’s running for the seat in 2012, The Hill reports.

Kyl

The seventh-term congressman has been talked about as a Senate candidate for years. As soon as Kyl announced his retirement last week, GOP operatives named Flake as the early front-runner.

The Club for Growth, which promotes economic freedom, already has beseeched him to run.

But Flake could face numerous competitors in the Republican primary Rep. Trent Franks and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth have said they might run too.

And some Democrats hope Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., will be able to run. Before she was shot last month, Giffords told her staff she would do it if Kyl retired.