Armed with the backing of Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Tarrant County businessman Michael Wood is hoping to convince 6th Congressional District voters that it’s time for the GOP to move away from former President Donald Trump.
Kinzinger, the Illinois Republican best known for supporting the second impeachment of Trump and calling for Trump’s removal from office after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, pledged contributions to Wood of $5,000 from his Country First PAC and $2,000 from his own congressional campaign fund.
The money is largely insignificant, considering that Wood could have to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to compete in the 23-person special election to replace late Republican Ron Wright.
Kinzinger and his PAC’s endorsement in the race will test whether the 6th District, an area Trump won against Joe Biden, is supportive of a Republican candidate who is running away from Trump instead of toward him.
“I’m proud to endorse Michael Wood for Congress because he is a principled leader, a truth-teller, and a much-needed voice of pragmatism here in Washington, D.C.,” Kinzinger said in a prepared statement. “The people of Texas’ 6th District would be well-served by his principled leadership, and I am proud to endorse his candidacy for Congress.”
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Wood, a decorated former Marine infantry officer, said Wright’s death has resulted in the 6th District being the first congressional election after Trump’s departure from office.
“I felt like it’s time for somebody to stand up and say that the Republican Party has lost its way and become too much a cult of personality,” Wood told The Dallas Morning News. “We need to correct ourselves, or else we’re going to cede the state and the country as a whole to the Democratic Party.”
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Wood, who is unknown to most voters in the district, said he thought an anti-Trump message would work with what he estimated is the 30% to 40% of the district’s GOP voters looking for change.
“There are a whole lot of Republicans and conservatives who are looking for an off-ramp,” Wood said.
Wood, who describes himself as a conservative Republican, voted against Trump in 2016 but voted for the former president in 2020. The veteran said he voted for Trump last year because he did good things as president, including appointing conservatives to judicial posts.
But Wood said Trump’s actions after November’s election, including his role in getting protesters to march on the Capitol, disqualifies him to be the GOP’s leader.
“Everything since Election Day, including Jan. 6, has led me to the conclusion that he’s forfeited his right to any sort of role in the Republican Party going forward,” Wood said.
Trump is popular in large parts of the Republican-leaning 6th District, which includes swaths of Tarrant, Navarro and Ellis counties.
In November, Wright won a second term, but he died in February after contracting COVID-19. He also had been battling cancer.
The May special election to replace Wright has attracted 11 Republicans, 10 Democrats, one Libertarian and one independent. The list includes Wright’s widow, GOP activist Susan Wright.
Kinzinger has become a face of the movement to rid the GOP of Trump. His PAC is organizing in Illinois, Arizona and Texas. The group is focusing on schools, including the University of Texas, Baylor, Southern Methodist University and Texas Christian University.
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March 23, 2021 at 06:02PM
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Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger backs Michael Wood for Congress, brings anti-Trump crusade to Texas - The Dallas Morning News
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