GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an outspoken Trump foe, announces he won't run for reelection in 2022
- Rep. Adam Kinzinger won't run for reelection in 2022, he announced.
- The Illinois Republican is an outspoken foe and critic of former President Trump.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a top Republican foe of former President Donald Trump in Congress, announced he won't seek reelection to Congress in 2022.
Kinzinger decried toxic hyper-partisanship, lack of unity in Congress, and failed leadership and warned America is now a "poisoned country" in a nearly five-minute video announcing his retirement posted to Twitter on Friday.
"In Congress, I've witnessed how division is heavily rooted," Kinzinger said. "There is little to no desire to bridge our differences, and unity is a word we no longer use. It's 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."
Kinzinger voted to impeach Trump for inciting the January 6 insurrection earlier this year, and is one of just two Republicans serving on the House Select Committee investigating the riot and pursuing testimony and evidence from top Trump allies.
"My disappointment in the leaders who don't lead is huge," Kinzinger said. "The battlefield must be broader and the truth needs to reach the American people across the whole country."
Kinzinger, without mentioning Trump by name, decried political tribalism and the phenomenon of political leaders capitalizing on fear and division to advance their own careers.
"In this day, to prevail or survive, you must belong to a tribe," he said. "Our political parties only survive by appealing to the most motivated and the most extreme elements within it. And the price tag to power has skyrocketed. And fear and distrust has served as an effective strategy to meet that cost."
In addition to being on the outs with his own political party in Washington over his vocal opposition to Trump, Kinzinger faced the redistricting chopping block in his home state.
Illinois lost one congressional seat in reapportionment following the 2020 Census due to its slow population growth and the Democrats who control the state legislature were eager to draw an aggressive new congressional map that shored up as many of their own incumbents as possible while putting GOP members on ice.
On Thursday, both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly voted to pass a new congressional map that now goes to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker for signature.
Under the new map, Kinzinger's home would be drawn into the same safely-Republican Central Illinois district as fellow GOP Rep. Darin LaHood, putting him in the position of having to run against another GOP incumbent.
Kinzinger is the second out of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in January heading for the exits. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, who faced a primary challenge from former Trump aide Max Miller, announced earlier this fall that he wouldn't seek a third term in office.
But Kinzinger said he won't be exiting politics altogether, touting his Country First PAC in the video. "I want to make it clear, this isn't the end of my political future, but the beginning," he said.
"Now is the time for choosing. Now is the time to work together to be part of the solution. Now is the time to join our movement at Country First," Kinzinger said. "Together, we can do this. America is a land created by those seeking a better tomorrow. We must embrace this American foundation as we reclaim our country from the dividers, the corrupt, and the cynical."