You or your children have surely seen that meme that says “If I win the lottery, I won’t tell anyone, but there will be signs” under a picture of a luxury car or something extravagant.
Political reporters in Illinois feel that sentiment when trying to predict whether the state’s governor, two-term Democrat J.B. Pritzker, will launch a run for President.
If you ask Pritzker – and believe me, we have – he’ll insist that while he’s not ruling out a White House run, his primary focus is winning a third term as the state’s chief executive in November’s election.
But just like the quiet administrative assistant who suddenly starts wearing a tennis bracelet from Tiffany after a Powerball drawing, there are signs that Pritzker and the state’s Democratic leaders are working to clear a lane for his potential ambitions.
First and most obvious: the governor has been working to introduce himself to potential voters outside Illinois. He’s appeared numerous times on CNN’s Sunday morning political program “State Of The Union,” and has been a guest on ABC’s “The View” and twice on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to serve as a visible foil to President Trump. Campaigns use these kinds of appearances to elevate a candidate’s profile for national office, and you can bet Pritzker’s political team has been gauging the reaction of audiences in, say, South Carolina, where the Democrats’ first Presidential primary may take place in 2028.
Next: the Democratic Party of Illinois, which is run by Pritzker loyalists, has asked the Democratic National Committee for permission to move the state’s 2028 primary from March to an earlier spot on the calendar. The last time Illinois’ Democratic primary was earlier than March was in 2008, when a certain well-known U.S. Senator named Barack Obama was on the ballot. The shift in ’08 was seen as a way to give a home-state candidate an early boost on the way to the nomination. It worked for the eventual 44th President, and Pritzker’s advisers may be hoping history repeats itself, especially if California Gov. Gavin Newsom launches his own widely-expected bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
Also: the Chicago Host Committee, which successfully landed the Democratic National Convention in 2024, has submitted a proposal for the city to host the next two DNCs, in 2028 and 2032. City, state and party leaders are unanimous in praising the ’24 convention: the Governor this week said it went “splendidly,” and Mayor Brandon Johnson added he’s “incredibly proud” of the city’s handling of the event. And the symbolism of the governor of Illinois potentially accepting the party’s Presidential nomination in his hometown is truly powerful, even as the mayor expresses concerns about federal authorities taking over security at a time when the city and the state have been a frequent target for President Trump. “It's not just me, but a number of us have profound concerns about that,” the mayor said. For the record, the governor responded by saying “I get it” and agreeing that questions about coordination and security would have to be addressed before a formal bid.
Combine all that with the governor’s personal wealth (estimated by Forbes to be in the neighborhood of $3.7 billion) and what others have observed to be his apparent weight loss, and the signs appear to suggest that Team Pritzker is already looking past 2026. The final piece may be whether, and by how much, he wins re-election against the eventual Republican nominee. Early polling suggests that Pritzker’s 2022 GOP opponent Darren Bailey is the favorite to repeat as the party’s nominee, and the governor beat the former state Senator by more than 470,000 votes in that election. If history repeats itself, and the governor’s eventual margin is similarly decisive, 2027 is likely to begin with the governor launching a bid for the biggest job in the country, and the biggest fight of his political life.