Poli Alert Political & Civics
Related Articles
Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) — a high-profile critic of former President Donald Trump and his loyalists — won’t seek reelection to Congress in 2022, he announced Friday.
The six-term lawmaker from Illinois who has drawn national attention from the GOP for voting to impeach Trump, and for serving on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, revealed in a nearly 5-minute video he is ending his congressional career. The video was released on social media and YouTube.
“I’ve witnessed how division is so heavily rooted in this country,” said Kinzinger, who has been speaking out against that division and political extremism for months with a political movement he dubbed Country First. “It has also become increasingly obvious that in order to break the narrative, I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide.”
Kinzinger will finish his current term, which ends in January 2023, a spokeswoman said.
Kinzinger’s announcement came hours after the Illinois State General Assembly approved a new congressional district map that redrew the 16th District to include him and another Republican incumbent, 18th District Rep. Darin LaHood of the Peoria area, and could have set up a primary between the two veteran lawmakers.
Kinzinger’s video didn’t rule out a run for a different post.
“I want to make it clear — this isn’t the end of my political future, but the beginning,” Kinzinger said.
In a Twitter post introducing the video, Kinzinger said he’ll “continue to fight for truth and transparency, for principled leadership and proven solutions, for hope and opportunity.”
But as far as Congress goes, the time to move on “is now,” Kinzinger said in the video.
