Politics
Gov. JB Pritzker Hints at the Possibility of a Third Term in Office
Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks to a gathering of the Illinois delegation at the DNC on Aug. 19, 2024. (WTTW News)
In the middle of his second term, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker hinted during a speech to party faithful Monday morning that he’s game to run again.
“It seems crazy, but it’s true that when I serve out just the end of this second term I will be the longest serving Democratic governor in the history of Illinois,” Pritzker said. “I’m not suggesting that I want to try to beat (former Gov.) Jim Thompson’s 14-year record. My wife’s not here. I don’t want anybody talking to her about this. But she is my term limit. So, if all of you want to talk to her, convince her one way or another.”
Thompson, a Republican, was governor of Illinois from 1977-1991.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said he welcomes the 59-year-old Pritzker staying on as governor, and believes that First Lady M.K. Pritzker would be good with it too.
“I think it means stability,” Welch said. “I think it means continued progress. We continue to move Illinois forward. The governor has said those comments to me several times before, so I’ve had an opportunity to kind of lobby his wife a few times and say, ‘Hey ‘I’d love for him to go for a third term.’ And I think I got a smile, and a wink and an OK that he could do that.”
Democratic governors preceding Pritzker fell short of two full terms. Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office during his second term. His successor, Gov. Pat Quinn, won the top office in 2010 but lost his reelection bid four years later.
Prior to that, as Pritzker noted, Republicans were in charge for a long stretch.
“Everyone knows of course that we’re a big blue state in the middle of the country,” Pritzker said. “But what many people don’t know is that, what you all know, which is over the last 50 years we’ve had more Republican governors than we have had Democratic governors. And more years of Republican rule in the governorships than we’ve had Democratic governors.”
Democratic Gov. Otto Kerner Jr., won two terms and served from 1961 until May of 1968, when he resigned to become a federal judge, while Democratic Gov. Henry Horner, who was inaugurated in 1933, died in August of his second term.
Pritzker had been in the running to be on the presidential ticket as nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate.
The day she announced she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to run as vice president, journalists asked Pritzker about his future ambitions, including a third term or interest in a potential Cabinet post should Harris win the White House.
At the time, Pritzker demurred.
“It’s not something I’ve contemplated,” Pritzker said of a possible Cabinet post. “I really do love the job that I have.”
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said she urges Pritzker to run again, and said that she appreciates his working with the General Assembly to raise the minimum wage and pass protections for reproductive health care.
“I think it would be great if he would run again,” Duckworth said. “Remember that we’ve had six balanced budgets and nine credit upgrades under this governor. We were named the Midwest Hydrogen Hub. We’ve got the new quantum center that he’s brought in. He’s been a real partner to me.”
The support is a far cry from when Pritzker, who has poured hundreds of millions of own money into his own and other Democratic campaigns in Illinois and elsewhere, first ran for governor.
In 2018, Pritzker won 45% of the vote in a six-way primary, besting businessman Chris Kennedy of the Kennedy political dynasty and then state senator, now Evanston mayor, Daniel Biss.
“Back in 2018, our party was not exactly begging me to run for governor. No one was crying out for a white, Ukrainian American, Jewish, billionaire,” Pritzker said during his morning speech. “I get it, I get it.”
Pritzker said he’s a Democrat because when his ancestors arrived in Chicago as refugees from Ukraine, a social service agency helped them find a place to live, and they benefitted from a public education.
