ROCKFORD - Rockford area Tea Party activists are not happy with their incumbent Congressman Adam Kinzinger evidently, because they've gathered enough petition signatures to get area Tea Party leader David Hales on the GOP primary ballot. Thus far, no Democrat has filed for the 16th CD.
Kinzinger is a rising star in Speaker Boehner's U.S. House leadership, and has been representing the GOP viewpoint on national talk shows, especially as a critic of ObamaCare, but as a supporter of the Obama Administration's policy on Libya.
But Kinzinger didn't stand firmly opposed to defunding ObamaCare during the Ted Cruz-led uproar and condemned the budget shutdown that resulted. Since that time, Hales has been actively supported by a growing number of Tea Party ranks in the district.