Onetime Kinzinger challenger confirms her campaign is on hold
A onetime candidate for Congress in Illinois' 16th District confirmed Monday that she's halted her bid to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger.
Leona Di Amore, a Channahon resident who owns a business in Naperville, announced in March that she would be running as a Republican for the post.
But in the months since, Di Amore filed no paperwork with the Federal Election Commission or other offices establishing a campaign committee or proof of candidacy.
She has reported no campaign fundraising and done no campaigning on social media, either.
On Monday, Di Amore responded to a call by the Daily Herald with texts in which she said her campaign "is on hold."
"I'm suspending my campaign at this time," she texted.
Di Amore served in the U.S. Navy and now operates a holistic health center in Naperville. The congressional campaign would have been her first run for elected office.
Six Republicans are challenging Kinzinger, also of Channahon, for the GOP nomination in the June 2022 primary: Woodstock resident Catalina Lauf, who ran for Congress in the 14th District last year; Oswego resident James Marter, who also ran in the 14th last year; Jack Lombardi of Manhattan; Teresa Pfaff of Machesney Park; Geno Young of Chicago; and Michael Rebresh of Minooka.
Marsha Williams of Wilmington is the lone Democratic hopeful so far.
The 16th District includes all or parts of 14 Illinois counties. It stretches from the far Northwest suburbs and the Rockford area to downstate Ford County.
The district's boundaries certainly will change ahead of the primary election in June 2022. The 2020 census indicates Illinois' population decreased over the last decade, so the state will lose one of its 18 congressional seats.