AP Photo Jon Kyl endorses Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio has picked up the endorsement of former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, who praised the Florida senator for his "idealistic" but "pragmatic" viewpoints on immigration reform, as well as his knowledge and instincts on foreign policy issues.

"I know him. I like him a lot," Kyl told The Arizona Republic in an interview published late Monday night, a little less than two months before Arizona Republicans vote in their state primary on March 22. "I came to respect him as a real expert in matters related to our national security. He is on the Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee. He knows the subject very well, and he also has very good instincts about what we should do."


Kyl, whose time in the Senate overlapped with Rubio for two years, remarked positively upon the candidate's "sunny" and positive disposition as well as his participation in the failed Gang of Eight immigration talks in 2013.

"He didn't shy away from the issue. People looked to him for leadership, and he provided it," Kyl said. "Not everybody was happy with the proposals that he actually supported, but there's an old saying in politics: 'You can't get something without giving something.' If you want to just have it your way all the time, you're never going to get anything done."

Other former senators who have endorsed Rubio include Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas and Phil Gramm of Texas.