Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger will not run for reelection, he announced Friday.
The outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump faced a 2022 election map that would have altered his Chicago suburbs district so much toward a Democratic advantage due to redistricting that it would have made it improbable for him to win reelection.
Looking forward to the next chapter! pic.twitter.com/SvdFCVtrlE
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) October 29, 2021
In announcing his retirement from Congress, Kinzinger, 43, offered a bleak assessment of the state of politics.
“In this day, to prevail or survive, you must belong to a tribe. Our political parties only survive by appealing to the most motivated and the most extreme elements within it,” Kinzinger said in a video posted to Twitter. “The price tag to power has skyrocketed, and fear and distrust has served as an effective strategy to meet that cost. After all, if a man is convinced that his very survival is at stake, he’ll part with anything, including money, to ensure he does survive.”
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But Kinzinger said he will remain engaged in politics.
“It has also become increasingly obvious to me that in order to break the narrative, I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide,” he said.
Kinzinger has a leadership PAC called Country First, which aims to challenge some of the Republicans who have embraced Trump and “cast aside the conspiracy theories and the rage.” Allies of Kinzinger also started a separate super PAC called Americans Keeping Country First, supporting Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.
Kinzinger is an Air Force veteran who joined Congress in the 2010 Tea Party Republican wave, defeating an incumbent Democrat. In the later years of his time in Congress, he became known for being a top critic of Trump and was one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach him in January.
“I stand in awe at the courage of the other nine members in the House who voted to impeach a president of their own party, knowing it could be detrimental to their political career,” Kinzinger said.
He is one of two Republicans, alongside Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, to sit on the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both of them were appointed to the committee by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Kinzinger’s criticism of Trump and the Republican Party and his sitting on the Jan. 6 committee have caused the bulk of his Republican colleagues in the House to shun him. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called Kinzinger and Cheney “Pelosi Republicans,” and members of the House Freedom Caucus have tried to kick Cheney and Kinzinger out of the House Republican Conference.
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Kinzinger is the second House Republican who voted to impeach Trump to announce retirement from Congress. Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, who faced a primary challenger whom Trump endorsed and said his family faced threats after his impeachment vote, announced in September that he would not seek reelection.
“My passion for this country has only grown. My desire to make a difference is bigger than it’s ever been. My disappointment in the leaders that don’t lead is huge,” Kinzinger said.
