Politics
Abortion Rights Groups Urge Kamala Harris to Choose JB Pritzker as Running Mate
Gov. J.B. Pritzker addresses reporters in Chicago on July 9, 2024. (Credit: Illinois.gov)
Abortion rights groups are trying to give Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker a boost as Vice President Kamala Harris’ potential running mate in the 2024 presidential contest.
Harris, who has all but sealed the Democrats’ nomination after President Joe Biden last month abandoned his bid for reelection, has to choose her running mate before Aug. 7 when the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to confirm the ticket on a roll call vote.
Pritzker has taken pains to stay guarded about what — if any — conversations he’s had with Harris about running for vice president, but he has also not repudiated reports that he’s on the short list, nor has he spurned interest.
The Chicago Sun-Times last week reported that he’s being vetted by the campaign.
A pair of abortion rights groups on Thursday publicly called on Harris to choose Pritzker, releasing a letter they sent her calling a Harris-Pritzker ticket a “force to be reckoned with.”
“As your Vice President, Governor JB Pritzker would be not only an incredibly effective governing partner, but a true champion in the fight for reproductive freedom,” reads a bold, underlined passage in the letter, co-written by the CEO of Personal PAC, Sarah Garza Resnick, and the director of Men4Choice, Oren Jacobson.
Personal PAC is a politically powerful Illinois-based political action committee that fights for abortion access, and Men4Choice began in Chiago and has many Illinois leaders on its board.
The letter extolls Pritzker’s work to protect reproductive rights in Illinois, through signing a law that gives legal protections to those seeking an abortion. This week, Pritzker signed a measure to prohibit insurers from charging premiums or co-pays for abortion services.
“When Donald Trump’s Supreme Court ripped away rights from millions of Americans, Illinois was ready to welcome them as a safe haven because of Governor Pritzker’s foresight,” the letter said.
Garza Resnick and Jacobson note that Pritzker — who was believed to harbor national ambitions even before Biden’s dropping out upended the dynamics of this year’s presidential contest — also founded Think Big America, a national PAC that backs pro-reproductive-rights candidates and referenda in states outside Illinois.
Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt fortune, is the only known funder of Think Big America. The group is spending millions of dollars collectively in states like Arizona, Florida, Montana and Nevada where abortion rights issues are on the ballot via constitutional questions or are major points of focus in tight candidate contests.
Harris has any number of considerations to weigh as she chooses a running mate: whether a vice president could help her to win in a battleground state, whether an official leaving vacant their current post could make it vulnerable to flipping to Republican control and even basic professional chemistry.
Presidential candidates often look to their vice president to balance a ticket, while making sure they’re aligned on key issues.
Harris is making fighting for the restoration of Roe v. Wade a centerpiece of her campaign, and already has the backing of major national groups that fight for abortion access, such as Planned Parenthood.
Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]
