GOP criticizes campaign as ‘stepping stone’ for a presidential run
By BEN SZALINSKI & ANDREW ADAMS
Capitol News Illinois
news@capitolnewsillinois.com
CHICAGO — In a hot gymnasium on Chicago’s South Side, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday morning he’s running for a potentially historic third term as governor.
In his announcement speech, Pritzker said he is running to “protect” the story he’s been telling about Illinois — one that has been built largely in opposition to the politics of President Donald Trump.
Pritzker said his third term would focus on grappling with artificial intelligence, addressing the rising cost of living, continued spending on infrastructure and growing the state’s economy.
The field house at Grand Crossing Park where Pritzker launched his first campaign hosted a crowd of Pritzker’s invited supporters, including Democratic party officials, campaign operatives and long-time Pritzker supporters.
Read more: Pritzker calls for mass mobilization as he grows his national profile
Pritzker’s message has often focused on what Democrats need to do to win and push back on Trump, including addressing economic issues for the middle class and being outspoken against Trump’s policies.
“While it is certainly tempting to lay all of this at the feet of the megalomaniac narcissist in the White House and his malignant clown car in Congress, the hard truth is, we all share some of the blame,” Pritzker said.
The governor said “we must reckon with the fact that everything is too damned expensive,” but taking a shot at Republicans, said enacting budget cuts to key government programs like Medicaid that make life more affordable for people shouldn’t be the solution.
The governor also said a third term would continue his past efforts to protect abortion rights, diversity programming in the private sector and teachers’ ability to teach “uncensored history.”
Pritzker’s progressive stances on hot-button national issues are part of what has grown his national profile since President Donald Trump took office in January.
The governor has been one of the president’s most vocal Democratic critics and his schedule has been loaded with national media interviews and campaign speeches around the country.
From reelection to presidential election?
A successful reelection could set the stage for a bigger one: Pritzker’s speculated 2028 presidential campaign.
Pritzker on Thursday downplayed the possibility when speaking to reporters but didn’t explicitly rule it out.
“Everything that I do, truly everything that I do, in my job and every day when I wake up is about improving the lot of the people who live in the state of Illinois, lifting up the working families of Illinois,” Pritzker said. “Whatever I do going forward is going to be about that.”
He had a small taste of presidential campaigning last year when he was considered as a running mate for former Vice President Kamala Harris, then served as a surrogate.
“You don’t get on that list unless they think you actually could be president of the United States and do the job if you had to,” Pritzker told reporters last year.
As some Democrats have tried finding a centrist message, Pritzker has stayed in the left lane. He condemned politicians, without mentioning specific names, who abandon their core beliefs for political gain.
“Of all the unbecoming qualities that Americans hate in their politicians – they hate cowardice the most,” Pritzker said. “I’d rather lose standing up for what I believe in than win by selling out those who believed in me.”
Read more: Pritzker balances messaging as some Dems encourage party to avoid LGBTQ issues
As Pritzker rattled off a list of accomplishments in his more than six years as governor, his message remained the same as it has since he launched his first campaign in 2017 to unseat an unpopular Republican incumbent: fight.
“Let me be clear: There is no Mission Accomplished banner to stand under today,” Pritzker said alluding to a premature victory declaration former President George W. Bush made in a 2003 speech regarding military action in Iraq. “Yes, we have addressed so many of our old problems – but new ones always arise. History is an endless relay race. Our job is not to look for the finish line but to protect the baton as we run our assigned leg. But we have work to do. I have work to do.”
Pritzker argued his success has come through embracing his role as a cheerleader for the state, recalling the negative perceptions of Illinois, such as the prevalence of corruption and unbalanced budgets, that had consumed state politics.
“When I was first elected, I told you I was prepared to be a happy warrior on behalf of our state, even if it meant going it alone,” Pritzker said. “I suited up to face the carnival barkers and misery spelunkers and doom grifters. I handed out optimism like a shot of Malört – as a swift jolt to the heart.”
First three-term Democrat?
The 60-year-old Democrat enters the race as the favorite, having received more than 54% of the vote in the 2018 and 2022 elections.
An heir to a fortune built on the Hyatt Hotel chain, Pritzker’s net worth sits at $3.7 billion as of Thursday, according to Forbes. His vast personal wealth makes him one of the richest politicians in American history and gives him a significant leg up on competitors. Pritzker dumped $350 million into his first two campaigns and has never taken outside contributions.
Separately, Pritzker has used an undisclosed amount of his personal fortune to fund a political action committee, Think Big America, to support abortion rights in other states.
Pritzker is also entering unchartered territory for Illinois governors. If he completes his current term, he would be the first Democrat to serve two full terms in modern state history. If he wins reelection, he would be the only governor to serve more than two terms since Republican Gov. Jim Thompson served four terms from 1977 until 1991.
Pritzker will need a new running mate first, however, as Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is running for U.S. Senate. Pritzker did not announce a running mate Thursday.
Pritzker’s governing record
The governor’s top priority for his second term was to eliminate child care deserts and make preschool more accessible. Since he was sworn in in January 2023, the state has implemented Pritzker’s Smart Start initiative to expand preschool offerings around the state and has begun to phase in a new Department of Early Childhood.
When asked about those goals after his speech Thursday, Pritzker said there were an “awful lot of things” that his administration still needed to accomplish.
“We still need to get to universal preschool. We’re on our way. It’ll happen probably in 2027,” Pritzker said.
But Pritzker pointed to several of his progressive policy wins Thursday, in his speech and when speaking to reporters.
He has signed legislation raising the minimum wage to $15, legalizing recreational cannabis, banning assault weapons and numerous new protections of abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned three years ago. Pritzker also passed landmark legislation to phase out fossil fuels in the electricity sector.
Pritzker repeatedly brought up cleaning up Illinois’ fiscal house. The state has recorded budget surpluses in recent years and has received nine credit upgrades since he took office.
But challenges are also growing. The budget has gotten tighter, and lawmakers have resorted to more than $1 billion in targeted tax increases over the last two years to balance the budget. The fiscal year 26 budget Pritzker signed this month increased discretionary spending by less than 1%.
There’s also been headaches over legislative priorities. Labor unions are frustrated Pritzker didn’t embrace their proposal for pension reform this spring. And many parts of the governor’s legislative agenda hit roadblocks with concerned lawmakers. There’s also ongoing discussions about achieving Pritzker’s bold clean energy goals as prices rise and energy supply is strained.
The governor has taken pride in growing state agencies decimated by the two-year budget impasse that began a decade ago. But problems at those agencies have caused trouble for Pritzker.
An audit revealed the Department of Public Health failed to intervene to stop deaths from COVID-19 at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home in 2020, though Pritzker blamed and fired leaders at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Billions of pandemic relief dollars at the Department of Employment Security went to fraudsters, while the Department of Children and Family Services faced years of scrutiny over deaths and the its failure to properly house children in its care while Pritzker maintained support for the department’s director.
GOP criticizes ‘stepping stone’ approach
As problems have mounted at the Statehouse, Senate Republicans have encouraged Pritzker to “think Illinois.” As he announced his campaign Thursday, Illinois Republicans continue to believe his focus is elsewhere.
“These last nearly eight years under his governance merits firing not rehiring,” Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi said in a statement. “While businesses and families flee, Pritzker sees Illinois as nothing more than a stepping stone for the White House.”
A field of Republican challengers is still taking shape. So far, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick, Posen Park District Commissioner Phil Perez and Lake Forest businessman Joe Severino have announced they will run in the Republican primary.
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