Kinzinger Defeats Manzullo in Illinois's 16th Congressional District Primary

Yahoo News ^ | March 20, 2012 | Scott Bland

[Clintonfatigued]

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., has defeated fellow Republican Rep. Don Manzullo in the state's 16th District GOP congressional primary.

The AP called the race for Kinzinger just after 11 p.m. Eastern time. With 85 percent of precincts reporting, Kinzinger led Manzullo 56 percent to 44 percent.

The race between Kinzinger and Manzullo, forced because Illinois lost a congressional seat and state Democrats controlled the redistricting process, followed a common tea party-against-establishment trend in recent GOP primaries. But the script flipped here, with 10-term veteran Manzullo garnering the bulk of the tea party and movement conservative support while Kinzinger, a freshman, lined up more establishment backing, including an endorsement from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor last week.

Kinzinger's victory not only ends Manzullo's congressional career but also represents a victory for Cantor, who came under harsh criticism with the rest of House GOP leadership this week for taking a public stand in Kinzinger's favor. After Cantor endorsed Kinzinger, the Cantor-affiliated YG Action Fund super PAC went up with $50,000 in pro-Kinzinger radio ads in the 16th District. Since then, Manzullo and other House Republicans have exploded with fury toward Cantor, while Speaker John Boehner and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy have sought to distance themselves from Cantor's choice to pick sides. (McCarthy's leadership PAC also donated to Kinzinger after the merged seat matchup became likely, though, and Boehner's donated to Kinzinger last year before evening up to Manzullo just last week.)

[Clintonfatigued]

Tonight was a good night for RINO’s. Manzullo will be missed, he’s served his country very well.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Clintonfatigued.

[bjcoop]

Agreed-—except he put a lot of blame on the Citizens United decision for his loss.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Very disappointing.

[TBP]

This is bad news.

[rmlew]

Carpetbagging RINO beats 10-term conservative. Republicans are sheeple.

[TBP]

Write in Manzullo.

[stars & stripes forever]

Sad day for Congress. Don Manzullo was one who kept in touch with his constituency. Where were the conservative voters? Enjoying the sunny day.

[nuke rocketeer]

How many dhimmicraps voted in the Republican primary this year?

[BlackElk]

bjcoop:

Between the mountains of special interest money that Mittwit is using in a relentless campaign of lies and distortions to buy the POTUS nomination and the mountains of special interest money that this pathetic Kinzinger just spent to punish Don Manzullo (my excellent Congressman) for not going on autosmooch as to Eric Cantor's and John Boehner's butts, maybe Citizens United was a bad mistake. Kinzinger cannot lose in November in this, the most Republican district in Illinois but he will NEVER be my Congressman. There is at least one far worthier young officeholder in this district who ought to consider primarying Kinzinger next time and the actual conservatives in Illinois 16 should gather and prepare such a campaign.

This race has also separated the wheat from the chaff. It ought not be forgotten that Illinois Congress stooges Aaron Schock and John Shimkus supported Kinzinger.

If anyone out there wonders why Dick Durbin will probably be easily re-elected, remember this divisive race as planting the seeds of Durbin's triumphant march to re-election over a GOP divided by the RINOs as usual.

[PhilCollins]

If I lived in the 16th District, I don’t know whom I would have supported. I think that the majority of people, I know, supported Kinzinger, since he was supported by tea party groups, two years ago. They also supported Kinzinger becasue they thought that Manzullo has been a congressman too long.

[fieldmarshaldj]

It was a no-brainer. Kinzinger may be new, but the voting record was clear. Manzullo has the most Conservative voting record in the IL delegation. With his almost 20 years of service, almost 96% pro-Conservative cumulative. Kinzinger scored a paltry 72%, the second worst of the IL freshmen, just ahead of Bob Dold’s dreadful liberal 44% (which, sadly, tied with Judy Biggert’s liberal % — sorry, Vic).

If Kinzinger were representing the Kirk/Dold district, I wouldn’t particularly have a big problem, but beating Manzullo in a district like that as a supposed Tea Partier ? The 16th lost an excellent Congressman (not to mention his seniority, which Kinzinger will probably never duplicate, and if he does, not for the overall positive good as Manzullo did).

Perhaps as BlackElk said, we can sack Kinzinger in 2 years (especially if he doesn’t shape up, and being an Establishment lackey is a BAD sign that he won’t). Maybe Manzullo can make a comeback, but he’ll be 70 in 2014, perhaps unlikely.

[AuH2ORepublican]

I agree that Manzullo is a solid conservative congressman, but I’m not sure if I’m convinced by the narrative that Kinzinger is a RINO Combiner. True, his one-year ACU score was pretty lousy, but that’s a rather small sample. And Kinzinger was supported by many conservative groups, including one led by Congressman Eric Cantor, so I can’t imagine that he’s that bad. Given that Kinzinger is much younger than Manzullo, and could conceivably become a statewide candidate someday (although I’d much rather groom Pete Roskam for a statewide run), I can see conservatives supporting Kinzinger over Manzullo even if Manzullo is a bit more conservative than Kinzinger.

The question remains, are we talking about an A for Manzullo versus a B+ for Kinzinger, or is it really an a for Manzullo versus a C- for Kinzinger? In other words, is Kinzinger a Jerry Weller, or is he a Tim Johnson?

[AuH2ORepublican]

Impy, I think it was you who had surmised that the redrawn IL-16 was the first IL CD to run from the WI border to the IN border since the days in which IL had only a few CDs. That made sense to me, but I just ran across what is purported to be a map of the IL-11 as used from 1903 to 1949 (when IL had 25 CDs and elected one or two at-large Representatives as well), and it includes both McHenry and Will Counties:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois%27s_11th_congressional_district

[PhilCollins]

I agree with you, about Rep. Roskam. I hope that he’ll run for the U.S. Senate, in 2014. I hope that his replacement, in Congress, would be Jim Ryan, John Millner, Kirk Dillard, or Carole Pankau. If all four of them run, the primary turnout would be higher, helping conservative Republicans, in other races, including governor and the state legislature.

[TBP]

You need to find a credible third candidate who is genuinely conservative. if that means a Democrat wins the district, at least the RINOs get slapped and in just two years, you can nominate and elect a genuinely conservative Republican.

[BlackElk]

TBP:

It might be even simpler than that. There is no Demonrat running in this district which has to be one of the most Republican (but seldom bossed or bought) in the nation.

The filing deadline for third party or unaffiliated candidacies is apparently June 4, 2012. I do seem to remember that Illinois MAY have a "sore loser" law that might prevent Don from running in 2012 in which case David Hale, head of the Rockford Tea Party, should run or recruit a suitably capable and electable candidate. Personally, I would love to see Don Manzullo run as an unaffiliated candidate (or specifically as a Tea Party candidate) and to appeal to the many Rockford Democrat voters who have retained their jobs because Don fought for them and to the many Tea Party groups in that part of the new district that that Kinzinger has represented for the last two years and wantonly betrayed. If we have a "sore loser" law, then he should publicly and vocally manage the candidacy of a Hale or a Hale designee with Hale as co-manager. Kinzinger was on the radio this morning whining about being called a RINO and deriding the term and vowing to "investigate" a veterans' PAC that pointed out that one of his votes may jeopardize the lives of soldiers in the field. First Amendment, anyone???

If such an "unaffiliated" candidate were to run this year and win, it would be a golden result, and if that candidate were to lose, then the candidate could start the next campaign on the first Wednesday after the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 2012, for 2014, qualify to challenge Kinzinger in the 2014 GOP primary, and spend two years in which the candidate would run, appear at every barbecue and hockey game and Little League game, and church service where three conservatives are gathered together,recruit every available Catholic, Reformed Christian, and Jew, factory worker, black and Hispanic available, farmer, small business owner, auto mechanic, racing fan (Danica Patrick grew up here), military veteran, gun enthusiast, taxpayer activist, Knight of Columbus, Mason, (many others whom I am forgetting), Republican, conservative, and particularly those fed up with the state and national GOP obsessions and leaders which and who have little or nothing to do with the daily lives of those who live here, etc. Sufficiently organized and trained boots on the ground can beat impersonal mountains of corrupt special interest money.

In admitted or unadmitted support of such a candidacy, we might establish forums on public policy with local or national experts serving on educational panels, or debating one another or debating flat out enemies of our values.

Many things are more doable here than in many places. Last September, the only abortion mill in the old 16th District was closed by (if you can imagine it) by the Illinois State Health Department because of its persistent unethical behavior, lack of even minimal sanitation, failure to establish admitting privileges at ANY of the local hospitals (they were planning on taking any women with punctured uteruses or other life-threatening abortion malpractice injuries 90 miles by ambulance to a Chicago hospital; surviving such a trip would be highly unlikely), failure to employ qualified nurses with professional independence to be utilized to protect patients, etc. It was the little House of Horrors. The mill has forfeited its license by not complying with subsequent court orders. There has been no move to open another. Don Manzullo fought that abomination for at least 20 years, set up a crisis pregnancy alternative, personally took responsibility for raising all the funds necessary to fund it by running an annual fund-raising dinner with nationally known pro-life speakers. Don apparently converted from his childhood Catholicism to the Baptist faith when he married his Baptist wife, but, as Don always points out, our verrrrry hard line Catholic Bishop (Thomas Doran) has told him he is still the best Catholic Congressman anywhere, at least as to his voting record. Don supports us Catholics and we support him proudly.

This electoral tragedy is a real wake up call. Don's defeat by a mountain of mostly corrupt money raised and spent against him under the "Young Guns" program and superPAC of the GOP House leaders blindsided many of us. To that extent it is our fault and as William Wallace said to his fiancee Murrin in Braveheart, "We shall have to remedy that."

Also, I come originally from Connecticut as did the late major league baseball manager Leo Durocher. As Durocher used to say, "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser." He had been a rookie reserve shortstop with the Babe Ruth/Lou Gehrig New York Yankees of 1927 and then played for the famous St. Louis Cardinals "Gas House Gang" in the 1930s. We don't have to take such crap as Kinzinger (and Boehner and Cantor and Kevin McCarthy) wish to dish out in service to every corrupt interest in this nation.

If anyone here has a Republican member of Congress, encourage him or her to work to replace the current House (and US Senate) GOP leaders with far better members who actually have principles and backbone and a willingness to actually fight and will not recruit and fund trash like Kinzinger.

[BlackElk]

Far too many were delivered for Kinzinger by the Chicago Demonratic Machine.

Kinzinger has something like a 73% conservative voting record. That rates a C- (making Kinzinger very marginally better than Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins but still well rooted in RINOland) and Don Manzullo was at 85%, a flat B. Some issues (not the ones separating Manzullo and Kinzinger) are debatable as "conservative." For instance the shameless mountains of money used by the RINOs Romney and Kinzinger to BUY primaries so as to exclude actual conservatives (i.e, Santorum, Gingrich, Manzullo) who would resist the RINO desire to canoodle with Demonrats to shamefully farm taxpayers and to pick winners and losers among candidates or among businesses for their utterly corrupt entourages. Such expenditures have only very recently been found constitutional in the Citizens United case. I don't favor this nation's politics being pre-empted on the left by George Soros and on the "right" by whatever is funding the likes of Romney and Kinzinger. Kinzinger should pick up his politically treasonous kneepads (used to service the "leaders") and go home permanently. After this disgrace, he can take Aaron (is he married?) Schock and John Shimkus with him and Nancyboy Kirk.

Why don't we invite my old enemy Lowell Weicker at the tender age of 81 to move here and run against Dickie Durbin? Lolo is every bit as conservative as Kinzinger (always endorsed by the none too choosy NRA) and would die sooner (I dare imagine). And special interest zillions??? We ain't seen nothing yet until we run Weicker (Hartford Steam Boiler, Friendly Ice Cream, American Tobacco, Squibb Drug, and many other big sources in which his family has major interests. Lolo would easily make Nancyboy and Durbin look like the homeless and impoverished denizens of the local drunk tank. Lolo is much more practiced and polished in his obnoxiousness than Kinzinger ever will last long enough to be.

Kinzinger is, at best, an eager and willing enthusiastic stooge for the pathetic Boehner, Cantor, McCarthy, McConnell, Lindsay Graham, McCainiac, Romney abominations masquerading as "Republicans" or worse as "conservatives." Words have actual meanings or they have no excuse to exist. If the likes of those "leaders" and of Romney and of Kinzinger are "conservative," then the word no longer has meaning.

Also see #18.

[PhilCollins]

June 8 is the deadline for republican and democrat leaders to slate candidates, in races in which no one was nominated, in the primary. Third party and independent candidates can circulate petitions, March 27-June 25. Each congressional candidate, who runs for a new party or an as independent, must submit at least 5,000 signatures.