LA SALLE COUNTY – One of the few remaining powerful Republican county organizations in Illinois blasted their Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) this week by overwhelmingly voting to censure him for ignoring the organization for over six years and for voting to impeach former President Donald J. Trump.
The La Salle County Republican Central Committee's precinct committeemen were given the opportunity to speak for two minutes explaining their support or opposition to the censure. According to reports, 88 percent of the committeemen supported the censure. The censure disavows Rep. Kinzinger for "acting contrary to the values of the La Salle County Republican Central Committee."
The resolution overwhelmingly passed with 88% of the Precinct Committeemen voting "yes" to censure. The La Salle County Republican Central Committee has received unsolicited support for the censure from over 40 county Republican Central Committees around the state of Illinois.
LaSalle County Chairman Larry Smith expressed frustration he's hearing from Republicans in his county.
“The La Salle County Republicans have received hundreds upon hundreds of emails, text messages, and phone calls from our county and beyond expressing their frustration and a lot more with Congressman Kinzinger’s actions and statements the past few months," he said.
"Many have been very direct that their support for the Republican Party is over if Congressman Kinzinger’s behavior isn’t addressed. Though our Central Committee is not noted for political activism and we have always supported Republicans at every level, Congressman Kinzinger’s actions and statements against former President Trump have opened a Pandora’s Box of criticism.”
Not only did LaSalle County Republicans voice their support to censure Kinzinger, so did the 16th CD's State Central Committeeman John McGlasson.
"I support LaSalle County's action and the way they went about it," McGlasson told Illinois Review.
Since the censure, Kinzinger has also joined 10 other Republican US House members to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her assignments for the House Education and Budget Committee – another very strong indication Kinzinger is determined to vote independently from the Republican caucus.
Due to publishing stories Kinzinger's staff deems critical, Illinois Review has been removed from the Congressman's press release list and blocked on the Congressman's Twitter page.