Former Republican Illinois U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who has become a pariah among many in Donald Trump’s GOP, is scheduled to take the stage after 9 p.m. Thursday on the closing night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Kinzinger, who represented exurban Channahon in Congress for 12 years, has become one of the most outspoken Trump critics in the Republican Party since the failed insurrection by the former president’s supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“True conservatism has been replaced with a cult,” Kinzinger wrote in a social media post Tuesday confirming his DNC role. “I’ll be making that clear.”
His place in the announced schedule, just three slots before Vice President Kamala Harris is set to formally accept the party’s presidential nomination, underscores the focus the Democrats have placed on outreach to Republican and independent voters during their four days in Chicago.
Kinzinger was given a more prominent time slot than Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, the convention’s de facto host.
One of only two GOP lawmakers to serve on the House panel that investigated Trump’s role in the attempt to disrupt the electoral vote count after the 2020 election, Kinzinger is one of many former supporters of the Republican nominee to address Democrats in Chicago this week.
Kinzinger made note of the convention programming in a social media post Wednesday, writing: “The (DNC) has had Republicans speaking each night. Donald Trump said if you voted for (GOP primary opponent Nikki) Haley he doesn’t want your vote. Oblige him.”
A former Air Force pilot who unseated then-Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson in the 2010 election, Kinzinger opted not to run for reelection in 2022 after Illinois Democrats during redistricting drew him into a district that favored their party, in part out of fear of the GOP lawmaker’s rising political star.
Kinzinger had endorsed Joe Biden for reelection the day before the president’s disastrous late June debate performance that precipitated his withdrawal from the race. When Biden backed Harris to replace him on the Democratic ticket, Kinzinger followed suit, joining a Republicans for Harris group, alongside former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar.
Despite their differences on many political issues, Illinois Democrats largely welcomed Kinzinger’s presence at their quadrennial gathering.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski of Springfield said there are many Republicans and independents in her central and southern Illinois district who “know what’s at stake in this election.”
Kinzinger “is an effective messenger” to those voters because “he’s been very clear about why he’s doing something that’s unusual for him,” said Budzinki, who doesn’t have a speaking role at the home-state convention despite being a target for Republicans in the Nov. 5 election.
“He’s never obviously supported a Democratic presidential candidate before, but I think he’s doing that and stepping forward in a pretty brave way because he knows (there) is so much at stake in this November election,” she said.
Kinzinger is a good spokesman for the dangers of a second Trump term, and can provide a vantage point farther from the political right, said Illinois U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley of Chicago.
“A guy who’s a patriot, he’s a veteran, people should respect the fact that he knew it was the right thing, and he certainly knew what it was going to do to him, and he did it anyway,” Quigley said.
Dawn Koenigsknecht, a delegate from Evanston, said the decision to have Kinzinger speak on the final night of the convention showed a commitment to the country over political parties.
“I really think we’re at a point in this election where we need to put our country before our party, and I think by inviting the Republicans into the convention and speaking to constituents and people that may be feeling the same way that they do, they know they’re welcome here,” Koenigsknecht said.
The praise for Kinzinger extended beyond the Illinois delegation.
“His bravery to come to Illinois and speak at a Democratic convention is to be applauded, and that will go down as, I think, one of the strongest points made during this convention,” said Mississippi U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chaired the House Jan. 6 committee.
Scheduled to speak earlier in prime time Thursday was U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg, who like Harris is of South Asian decent.
