Adam Kinzinger

Kinzinger met Republican U.S. Congressmen Mike Pence, Mark Kirk, and Peter Roskam in January 2009 to discuss a possible run for Congress.[14] Kinzinger decided to run in Illinois' 11th congressional district, held by Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson. He started campaigning full-time in May 2009, when he returned home from his 3rd tour in Iraq. He was endorsed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Kinzinger won the five-candidate Republican primary on February 2, 2010 with 64% of the vote.[15]

He was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times in the general election. Kinzinger defeated Halvorson 57%–43% on November 2, 2010.[16]

Kinzinger (Second, from right) at the Halifax International Security Forum.

During his first term, Kinzinger represented a district that stretched from the outer southern suburbs of Chicago to Bloomington/Normal.

After redistricting, Kinzinger's district was eliminated. Much of its eastern portion, including Kinzinger's home in Channahon, near Joliet, was merged with the Rockford-based 16th District, represented by fellow Republican Don Manzullo, a 67-year-old politician first elected in 1992. Kinzinger had represented 31% of the district, while Manzullo had represented at least 44% of the district, prior to redistricting. In the March Republican primary, Kinzinger defeated Manzullo, 56%–44%.[17] In the general election, Kinzinger defeated Democrat Wanda Rohl, 62%–38%.[18]

Eric Cantor helped Kinzinger then rising Republican star topple Manzullo in the Illinois primary.[19]

Kinzinger was targeted by the Club for Growth in 2014.[20] In the Republican primary, he faced David Hale, a nurse and founder of the Rockford Tea Party. Kinzinger won with 78% of the vote.[21][22]

In the general election, Kinzinger faced Democratic nominee Randall Olsen; he won with 71% of the vote.[23][24]

Kinzinger with U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman and Representative Mike Pompeo.

Kinzinger won the March 2016 Republican primary with 100% of the vote.[25] No candidates filed for the Democratic primary for his seat.

Kinzinger announced publicly that he would not support GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump on August 3, 2016. "I'm an American before I'm a Republican," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, adding that "I'm a Republican because I believe that Republicanism is the best way to defend the United States of America… [Trump] throws all of these Republican principles on their head." Kinzinger noted, however, that he also would not support Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and was mulling other options.[26]

Kinzinger introduced the U.S. House version of the bipartisan bill Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act.[27] The United States Senate version was written in March 2016 by U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Rob Portman.[28] After the 2016 U.S. presidential election, worries grew that Russian propaganda spread and organized by the Russian government swayed the outcome of the election, and representatives in the U.S. Congress took action to safeguard the National security of the United States by advancing legislation to monitor incoming propaganda from external threats.[28][29] On November 30, 2016, legislators approved a measure within the National Defense Authorization Act to ask the U.S. State Department to take action against foreign propaganda through an interagency panel.[28][29] The legislation authorized funding of $160 million over a two-year-period.[28] The initiative was developed through the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act.[28]

Kinzinger defeated Democratic challenger Sara Dady with 59.1 percent of the vote. After the 2018 midterm elections, which saw all of the Republican congressmen representing the Chicago area defeated, he was left as the only Republican representing a significant part of northern Illinois in Congress.

Kinzinger defeated Democrat Dani Brzozowski in the 2020 election with 65% of the vote.

Kinzinger speaking at Hudson Institute.

In 2010 Kinzinger signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any global warming legislation that would raise taxes.[30]

Kinzinger sponsored the Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act of 2013. The legislation, which would make it easier for veterans with emergency medical technician training in the military to get civilian licenses to perform the same job outside of the military, passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote but was not voted upon by the Senate.[31]

On June 5, 2014, Kinzinger introduced a bill (H.R. 4801; 113th Congress) which would require the United States Secretary of Energy to prepare a report on the effects that thermal insulation has on both energy consumption and systems for providing potable water in federal buildings.[32][33] Kinzinger argued that "with the federal government being the single largest consumer of energy in the country, doing our best to maximize the potential savings from improved insulation systems is a commonsense step I think everybody can agree on."[33]

Kinzinger is a member of both the Republican Study Committee and the Republican Main Street Partnership.[34]

Kinzinger visits the Disaster Recovery Center in Marseilles, Illinois.

Conservative Review gave Kinzinger's voting record a "Liberty Score" 35%,[35] while the American Conservative Union (ACU) gave Kinzinger a Lifetime Rating of 59.60 out of 100.[36] Kinzinger was ranked as the 40th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress (and the third most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring the frequency each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party).[37]

Kinzinger voted in favor of the 2017 Republican health care legislation, which would have repealed major parts of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).[38]

Kinzinger voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.[39][40]

During the coronavirus pandemic, Kinzinger faced criticism from some Asian American leaders[41] for blaming China for the pandemic at a time that anti-AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) hate crimes and coronavirus-related discrimination are rising.[42][43][44][45] Kinzinger authored and retweeted many tweets singling out China for blame.[46][47][48][49][50][51] One such tweet was "Daily reminder: You are in your homes because #Chinahidthevirus."[52]

On February 4, 2021, Kinzinger joined 10 other Republican House members voting with all voting Democrats to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her House Education and Labor Committee, and House Budget Committee assignments in response to controversial political statements she had made.[53]

• Committee on Energy and Commerce[54]
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Energy
• Committee on Foreign Affairs[54]
  • Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and International Terrorism
  • Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment (Ranking Member)

• Congressional Cement Caucus
• House Baltic Caucus[55]
• Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus[56]
• United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus[57]
• Climate Solutions Caucus[58]
• Tuesday Group[59]

Kinzinger is in favor of allowing concealed carry of firearms across state lines where concealed carry is legal.[60]

Kinzinger supports the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).[60]

Kinzinger opposes the Dodd–Frank Act.[60]

On Twitter, Kinzinger praised Donald Trump's decision to kill Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, Commander of the Quds Force, the second most powerful person in Iran.[61] Reacting to news of the assassination, Kinzinger tweeted, "Mess with the bull, get the horns. If true, nice call, @realdonaldtrump."[62] He continued Tweeting, saying "killed a man responsible for thousands of deaths in #Syria and elsewhere, including Americans. Let's see how long the #blameAmerica left takes to make him a poor victim."[63]

Kinzinger supports penalizing sanctuary cities.[60]

Kinzinger opposes late term abortion and the use of federal funds for abortion or health coverage that funds abortion.[60]

Kinzinger has a "C-" rating from NORML for his voting history regarding cannabis-related causes. Kinzinger supported veterans having access to medical marijuana if recommended by their Veterans Health Administration doctor if medical marijuana is legal in their states of residence. He opposed a bill to remove marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act.[64][65]

Kinzinger voted against the Equality Act.[66][67]

Kinzinger voted in line with President Donald Trump about 90% of the time,[8] and voted against Trump's first impeachment,[8][68] but subsequently became a critic of Trump and made headlines as a rare Republican office holder willing to criticize him.[69][70] In summer 2020, Kinzinger denounced QAnon and other baseless conspiracy theories that gained currency among large proportions of far-right Republican voters.[8]

After the 2020 presidential election, in which Trump was defeated by Joe Biden, Kinzinger denounced Trump's false claims that the election was "stolen" and criticized Trump's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.[8] In December 2020, after Trump repeated his baseless claims of fraud on Twitter, Kinzinger tweeted that it was time for Trump to delete his Twitter account.[8][71] He also criticized the Texas Republican Party, and called for the firing of its chairman Allen West, after the party floating the idea of secession after the Supreme Court rejected Texas v. Pennsylvania, a bid by the state of Texas to overturn the presidential election outcome.[72]

On January 7, 2021, the day after the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a violent pro-Trump mob, Kinzinger became the first Republican member of the House to call for Trump's removal from office via the 25th Amendment.[73][74] In a video message, Kinzinger said that Trump had "abdicated his duty to protect the American people and the people's house," and his behavior made it clear that he had become "unmoored" from both his duties as president and "reality itself." He urged Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, saying that Trump was "unfit" and "unwell."[75] Five days later, Kinzinger announced that he would vote in favor of the Trump's second impeachment. He stated that there was "no doubt" that Trump "broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection." He also accused Trump of using the power of his office to launch a direct attack on Congress. He asked, "If these actions–the Article II branch inciting a deadly insurrection against the Article I branch–are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense?"[76] On January 13, he joined nine other Republicans in voting for impeachment.[8][77][78] In response, some Republicans have vowed to support a primary challenge to Kinzinger.[8]

In early 2021, a few weeks after the 2021 Capitol riot, Kinzinger launched the Country First PAC, as a means to reform the Republican Party and distance itself from far-right conspiracies, including QAnon.[79]