DeKALB — Incumbent Republican Adam Kinzinger has won reelection to the U.S. House in Illinois’ 16th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press.

NIU is a part of Illinois’ 16th Congressional District.

After five terms in office, Kinzinger secured his sixth by defeating Dani Brzozowski in Tuesday’s election and will continue to represent Illinois’s 16th Congressional District, where he resides in Channahon.

A native of Bloomington, Kinzinger joined the U.S. Air Force in 2003 and fought in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, according to Kinzinger’s Congressional website. Kinzinger continues his military service to this day in the Air National Guard where he holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. 

In 2010, Kinzinger defeated Debbie Halvorson to become representative of Illinois’s 11th Congressional District, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Due to redistricting, he became the representative of Illinois’s 16th Congressional District where he has served for the past decade.

In Illinois’s Primary Election on March 17, Kinzinger secured the nomination of the Republican party with 45,296 votes which was 100 percent of all Republican Ballots for the 16th Congressional District, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Among Kinzinger’s stances include how the U.S. and Illinois should work on handling the COVID-19 pandemic including working with Governor J.B. Pritzker “to set some guidelines for how we can live and work in this new normal” and holding China accountable for “lying about the virus from the start and then withholding information and hoarding personal protective equipment,” according to Kinzinger’s campaign website.

Other issues include government reformation by making sure that Congress uses taxpayer dollars efficiently and eliminating government programs that “no longer serve the national interest.” Kinzinger also supports repealing the Affordable Care Act which he voted to replace with the American Health Care Act in 2017. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives by a margin of four votes, was rejected in the Senate by a margin of two votes, according to Congress’s official website.

Kinzinger has cited his best achievements in the past ten years included his bill H.R. 5590, the Opioid Addiction Action Plan, “which requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to present to Congress a proposal to better address the opioid crisis by being more adaptable to innovative treatments, and steer us away from the typical one-size-fits-all methods for treating pain and substance abuse disorder,” according to Kinzinger’s Congressional website.

Another of Kinzinger’s accomplishments was Public Law 115-141: The Improving Broadband Access for Veterans Act, which “requires the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to submit a report to Congress that will promote broadband access for veterans, especially low-income veterans and those residing in rural areas,” according to Kinzinger’s Congressional website.

Kinzinger will be sworn into office and join the 117th United States Congress on Jan. 3, 2021.

Mail-in ballots have to be postmarked before or on Nov. 3 and must arrive by Nov. 17 to be counted.