Another of the ‘Trump 10’ is heading to the exits

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“I can’t focus on both reelection in Congress and a broader nationwide fight,” Kinzinger said in a video retirement message. “I want to clarify. This is not the end of my future in politics, but the beginning.”

What future office could Kinzinger seek – the 2024 Republican nomination perhaps? -remains to be seen, but what is clear is his outright opposition to Donald Trump, who ended up being one of 10 House Republicans that Kinzinger voted to impeach the former president for his role in the riots on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol, it became impossible for him to win another term in Congress.

That’s a similar fate facing Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, who retired last month in the face of a serious major challenge from a former Trump administration aide. “1 down, 9 to go!” Trump said in a statement released after Gonzalez’s announcement.

Trump is also aggressively targeting several other members of the group of 10 who voted to impeach him.

* She endorsed Harriet Hageman’s challenge to Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney – and called the incumbent a “warmonger” and a “bitter, horrible person.”* She sent a letter to local officials in the New York Rep district. John. Katko urges them to find an incumbent challenger, which Trump described as “bad news.”* He endorsed Joe Kent’s main challenge to Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in the state of Washington.* He endorsed State Rep. Steve Carra, running in a primary against Rep. Fred Upton in 2022. “Upton didn’t do the job our country needs, for years there was talk of stepping down and not running again, and he voted for the impeachment of the president of United States in cultivated cases., “Trump said of the incumbent. * Washington State Rep. Dan Newhouse had several key challengers following his impeachment vote, but Trump himself has yet to ride to endorse any of them.* Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer has several major contenders including so-called “MAGA Bride” Audra Johnson, who earned the moniker by wearing a “Make America Great Again” themed dress to her wedding in the summer of 2021. (Not yet Trump endorses career candidate.)* South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice has at least eight major challengers, many of whom are openly running in his impeachment vote. “I want to do something Tom Rice didn’t do: I want to listen to people and see what people in my district want me to do,” Horry County Board of Education Chairman Ken Richardson said in a statement. announcement of his candidacy. .* Future of California Rep. David Valadao is former Fresno City Councilman Chris Mathys, who accused the incumbent of “disloyalty’ for his vote to impeach the president.

For Kinzinger, winning the nomination will always be a very difficult task. His prospects became darker when the Illinois Democrats released a new map of state districts that put Kinzinger and Rep. Darin LaHood (R) in the same seat. Defeating an incumbent Republican in a party that is still fully dominated by Trump is something close to an impossible for Kinzinger.

The Illinois Republican’s stoop on political reality proves – once again – that crossing Trump in any way, shape or form is tantamount to something close to a political death sentence in the party these days.

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