Ex-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) has moved to Texas with his family after being disowned by some of his relatives in Illinois for not showing sufficient fealty to former President Donald Trump and Fox News host Sean Hannity.
At first glance, any future political plans in today’s Trump-dominated GOP seem highly unrealistic for Kinzinger.
But the Illinois Republican believes he has at least one last trick up his sleeve: playing a spoiler candidate to help defeat Sen. Ted Cruz, permanently derailing Cruz’s political aspirations. Everything would have to go right for the outspoken NeverTrumper to have a decisive hand in toppling Texas’ leading conservative, but stranger things have happened in recent political history.
On Thursday, the former congressman expressed his desire to challenge Cruz.
“I would love to run against Ted Cruz,” Kinzinger said on the FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast.
Although Kinzinger expressed a desire to challenge Cruz, he clarified that such a matchup isn’t inevitable and likely won’t come before next year’s Republican primary.
“I would like to, but right now, I’m not in a position to. I’ve got a young kid. I’ve got to kind of come down from the last couple of years. But if there’s a moment that comes along and the timing is right, yeah, absolutely.” he continued.
Kinzinger represented a heavily pro-Trump district for 10 years but was gerrymandered out of it by Democrats, making his reelection prospects nearly impossible.
Kinzinger, in addition to voting to impeach former President Trump, served on the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, which included primetime hearings featuring key witnesses.
Cruz’s most recent reelection with Beto O’Rourke almost shattered the Texas GOP’s control of statewide offices. In the end, Cruz emerged as the winner in the 2018 election, with a narrow 2.6 percentage point lead.
Although Cruz dominated rural counties, O’Rourke ran up big margins in urban counties and made substantial progress in historically Republican suburbs.
Some experts predict that next year’s senate race could become competitive, although Cruz remains favored to win a third term.
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