"He's Running": Pritzker's Opening Salvo for Potential 2028 Run
Governor JB Pritzker and Lt. Govenor Juliana Stratton speak to media Thursday in Chicago, making their first public comments following Tuesday’s election results. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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Governor JB Pritzker spoke to reporters Thursday for the first time since Republican Donald Trump won back the White House, positioning himself, and Illinois, as the progressive seawall to Trump’s policy.
But it was also clear to those observing Trump was positioning himself as a leading Democratic foil to Trump ahead of the 2028 campaign.
“He’s running,” one Republican texted shortly after his comments Thursday.
“Sounded like a President to me,” said a Democratic lawmaker.
In attempting to reassure Democrats and those concerned about a Trump term, Pritzker said he will stand up against the new administration.
“To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom, and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior. You come for my people, you come through me,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker laughed when asked Thursday if he planned to run for a third term in 2026 or was planning to run for President in 2028.
“The work that I do now as Governor is work that I love doing,” Pritzker said. “In the wake of the Tuesday election, I think back to my first days in office, my first two years in office, where Donald Trump was President, and we had to defend Illinois against an awful lot of policies that the Trump administration was imposing that we needed to make sure we were addressing. I think that work is going to continue.”
Pritzker said he has “nothing to announce today” about his future plans.
He called it “premature” to speculate on why Democrats lost the election claiming he needed to see more data before making a conclusion.
Unlike many of his predecessors, Pritzker has kept his campaign staff on payroll full time after the last election and has dipped his toes into mostly abortion issues in other states through his “Think Big America” dark money group.
He has traveled to swing states like Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Nevada, and North Carolina during the course of the campaign and has previously made trips to the key early state of Iowa.
As a self-funding billionaire, Pritzker could launch a fully-fledged campaign nearly immediately.
It also raises new questions as to whether Pritzker will seek a third term in 2026. No Illinois Governor has won a third term since Jim Thompson nearly 40 years ago. No Democrat has ever won a third term in Illinois.
Pritzker shrugged off a report from his Office of Management and Budget last week projecting a $3.2 budget deficit for the next fiscal year.
“The General Assembly and I have balanced the budget every year,” Pritzker said. When I came into office, the projections were that everything was going to go south immediately and we wouldn't be able to recover from it. We balanced the budget every year. Indeed, we ran surpluses. So we're going to balance the budget again. I'm going to submit a budget to the General Assembly in February like I have every year over the past six years, and it'll be balanced.”