Minooka's Rebresh Joins Growing List Of GOP Kinzinger Challengers

MINOOKA, IL —The field of Republican challengers looking to unseat Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-16th-Channahon) continues to grow as Minooka businessman Michael Rebresh announced Tuesday that he is running for congress is the 16th District.

According to the Daily Herald, Rebresh is the seventh Republican who has announced their intention to run against Kinzinger in the June 2022 primary.

In a press release and YouTube video, Rebresh introduced himself as a successful businessman of more than 23 year, who drives an 18-wheeler and owns his own logistics company.

Last summer, Rebresh was identified in news reports as the organizer of the Million Unmasked March in Springfield, a protest against mask mandates in schools. Reports listed attendance between 150 and 250 people, which included parents, teachers and counter demonstrators.

"I'm also a longtime Minooka resident and a staunch conservative Republican who supported President Trump in 2016 and 2020 – not based on his personality but based on his policies," Rebresh said in the video.

Rebresh claims he is the only current Republican challenger to Kinzinger who actually lives in the district.

"The people of the 16th Congressional District deserve true representation, and they cannot get that representation from carpetbaggers looking to profit from a quick political opportunity," Rebresh said.

Much of Rebresh's announcement focused on Kinzinger, who has drawn the ire of many in his party for his repeated criticism of former President Donald Trump. Last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi added Kinzinger to the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

"(Kinzinger) is a handpicked loyalist of Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi," Rebresh said. "While doing Nancy's bidding and furthering his own interests, he ignored the riots that devastated Illinois' cities and towns last year and failed to recognize the local thin blue line we all count on."

Rebresh said Kinzinger has "viciously attacked" Trump for the last five years, while ignoring the concerns of the residents of the 16th District, whom, Rebresh said, are concerned about their kids returning to school with mask mandates and political agendas being taught in the classroom.

Rebresh also has claimed that Kinzinger knew the Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants would be shut down, thus costing jobs and causing energy costs to skyrocket, and did nothing.

"We can and must do better than Rep. Adam Kinzinger and, if elected to represent the people of the 16th Congressional District, I will," Rebresh said.

The Daily Herald reported that the six other Republicans who have said they will challenge Kinzinger in the primary are: Catalina Lauf of Woodstock, James Marter of Oswego, Jack Lombardi of Manhattan, Teresa Pfaff of Machesney Park, Geno Young of Chicago and Leona Di Amore of Channahon.

Democrat Marsha Williams of Wilmington also has announced her intention to run in the 16th.

Though the race is filling up with candidates, The Daily Herald said census-based boundaries, which determine the actual makeup of the district, have yet to be set.