Catalina Lauf announces bid to oust Kinzinger, saying Trump will back her with $2M

OTTAWA - Catalina Lauf is a Republican candidate that is telling people the Trump campaign has committed $2 million for her to challenge Congressman Adam Kinzinger in the 2022 GOP primary. That commitment is yet to be confirmed by Illinois Review, but we are being told by reliable GOP insiders that she is indeed claiming it.

Illinois Review is looking forward to introducing the third announced Kinzinger challenger to our readers, but Lauf's campaign strategy appears to be going directly to national media first. 

Tuesday, she filed a  federal "Catalina for Illinois" committee, and released a sizzling internet ad aimed directly at Kinzinger:

When Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) chose to take a stand against former President Donald Trump, he seemed to ignore 16th CD voters overwhelming support for Trump in the 2020 presidential race. Numerous Republican county organizations have issued censures against Kinzinger's comments and positions. And along with that, the six-term federal lawmaker became a target for Trump supporters nationwide.

Illinois Review editor asked on Facebook thoughts from Illinois voters about the ad. Here's what they said: 

"Has she learned the difference between nuclear weapons and nuclear power yet? She’s extremely unqualified. She should try a local office first and learn about how the real world works!" 

In response, another commenter said, "There are no qualification tests for Congress. The House of Representatives is called The People’s House for a reason. Just how have all your 'qualified' candidates done for us over the last 30 years?"

"Pretty harsh for this early, but Adam has it coming," another said. 

One woman commenter said, "I don't think she's ready..Give her a couple of years serving more locally, then she'll be fantastic!" to be answered with another's perspective,"if AOC was ready, then she's ready."

 

And Lauf's hand gestures were a distraction for two other commenters, "Had a hard time getting past her hand gestures," and "As a person of Italian heritage, I am down with the hand gestures.

In general, I do agree that it is a solid benefit to the candidate and the voters if the candidate has previous local experience in office."

Thus far, Lauf is the third Republican that has announced their plans to challenge Kinzinger, preceded by Will County's Jack Lombardi and former Kendall County GOP chairman Jim Marter.