Edgar to Vote for Harris, says Pritzker "Qualified" to be VP, but Harris Should Choose Shapiro
Former Governor Jim Edgar greets attendees at a reception in 2016. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
NOTE: This story was originally posted for subscribers only. To receive subscriber-only newsletters and content, click here.
Former Governor Jim Edgar, a Republican, is once again bucking his party and says he will vote for Democrat Kamala Harris for President in November, a move he is calling a “vote against” GOP nominee Donald Trump.
In an interview on WMAY in Springfield Thursday, Edgar announced he will support Harris. He voted for President Biden in 2020 and announced publicly he wouldn’t support Trump in 2016.
Edgar also weighed in on Governor JB Pritzker’s chances of being chosen as Harris’ running mate. Edgar was vetted by the Dole campaign for the GOP ticket in 1996, but didn’t make the short list.
“I don’t think anybody really goes out and campaigns for the Vice Presidency,” Edgar said. “It’s all up to the nominee to pick it. But I don’t know that there were too many people who get offered [a spot on the ticket] and they say ‘no.”
Edgar has spoken favorably of Pritzker’s time in office and served on his 2018-2019 transition team.
“I think he definitely has the qualifications and he’s demonstrated he’s very much a team player, which a Vice President has to be,” Edgar said. “You want somebody that’s competent, and if they had to become president, they could. I think Governor Pritzker definitely has those qualifications.
But Edgar says it doesn’t make political sense for Harris to pick Pritzker, the governor of a state she is already expected to win handily, especially when popular Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is in the mix and represents a state Harris must win.
On Sunday, the Harris campaign announced Edgar was part of a “Republicans for Harris” coalition, joining former Illinois GOP members of congress Adam Kinzinger, Ray LaHood, and Joe Walsh.
