The new congressman from the 11th District is Republican Adam Kinzinger, who dispatched first-term Democratic Rep. Debbie Halvorson in 2010. At age 32, the former Air Force pilot is among the youngest members of Congress. Read More

The new congressman from the 11th District is Republican Adam Kinzinger, who dispatched first-term Democratic Rep. Debbie Halvorson in 2010. At age 32, the former Air Force pilot is among the youngest members of Congress.

Kinzinger was born in Kankakee, Ill., but spent the majority of his life in Bloomington, 70 miles to the southwest. He attributes his interest in public service to his father, who ran a nonprofit homeless shelter, and his mother, a public school teacher. He says that growing up in a middle-class family with two siblings taught him to spend money prudently. Wanting to stay near home, he attended Illinois State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2000. His first foray into politics came before that: In 1998, as a college sophomore, he took seriously a joking suggestion that he run for the McLean County Board. He did, defeating an incumbent and serving until 2003. When the September 11 terrorist attacks occurred, “that’s when I basically woke up,” he recalled. A month later, he joined the Air Force. But he began working in the private sector for STL Technology Partners until he could begin officer and pilot training. He eventually served three tours in Iraq from 2007 to 2009 and a tour in Afghanistan.

In the summer of 2006, Kinzinger was returning from the border of Mexico as part of his mission when he saw an attempted murder. Seeing a woman whose throat had been slashed running from her knife-wielding aggressor, he wrestled the man to the ground until police arrived. As a result, he was awarded the National Guard’s Valley Forge Cross for heroism. “During that whole thing, I thought I was going to die,” he told National Journal. “It really was a life-changing moment about sacrificing yourself for others.”

In May 2009, after returning from his final tour in Iraq, Kinzinger began to campaign for the 11th District seat. Touting his military service, he beat four opponents in the 2010 Republican primary, getting 64% of the vote. In the fall, he was up against Halvorson, who had racked up an impressive 58% of the vote in 2008. But Kinzinger went into the contest with important backing from local tea party activists.

Halvorson attacked Kinzinger’s stance on free trade and depicted him as inexperienced, running a campaign ad with a senior citizen scolding, “Young man, you have no idea what you’re doing.” Kinzinger countered with endorsements from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He also won the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business over Halvorson, a blow to an incumbent who had been known in Washington for her advocacy of small-business issues. He also picked up an endorsement from the Chicago Sun-Times, which often backs Democrats. The newspaper called him “a compassionate young man who will let reason and a humanitarian impulse drive his decisions.”

Kinzinger won convincingly, with 57% of the vote to 43% for Halvorson. He beat her in every county in the district, including Will, where he won 55% of the vote.

When he got to Washington, Kinzinger declined to join the newly formed Tea Party Caucus led by Minnesota GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann. “I was supported by the tea party,” Kinzinger told National Journal. “But I don’t consider myself a tea partier because I’m representing the entire 11th District.” He had his first brush with the national news media when The New York Times took him to task in a December 2010 editorial after Kinzinger held a $5,000-a-head breakfast at the Capitol Hill Club to raise money for his campaign debt, which the editorial said smacked of “business as usual” for a lawmaker who had promised to be different.