Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker recently took aim at his own party while delivering the keynote address at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner. He criticized his fellow Democrats for not doing enough to challenge President Donald Trump and rebuked them for paying attention to a “bunch of no-nothing political types” instead of the people they serve: Americans. That may be rich coming from a second-term governor whose state has one of the worst economies in the nation. Still, he could end up being a presidential candidate for 2028, though a close look under the hood of Illinois would probably scare away voters.
Pritzker and His Selective Perception
Illinois remains one of the poorest states in the nation and has been in the bottom five for most of the last decade, according to the latest “Rich States, Poor States” report from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Illinois also ranks “46th out of 50 in economic outlook for 2025 and 47th out of 50 in economic performance over the past 10 years,” explained The Center Square. Not helping the matter is the estimated $2.84 billion Pritzker’s state has spent on programs to help illegal aliens over the last couple of years. This is typical for blue states and likely one reason so many people are fleeing Democrat-led areas such as Illinois, which has lost 338,957 residents since mid-2018. Pritzker took office in 2019. Since then, wage growth has also slowed, and the state’s unemployment continues to be one of the highest in the nation. So, one would think the governor and billionaire heir to Hyatt might use his time more constructively than trying to lead an opposition against the sitting president and lambasting the Democratic Party.
He has ideas, though, and plans for the future, but they’re probably not what Illinoisans want to hear. He told NBC News that if Democrats reclaim a majority, they should investigate officials in the Trump administration. “We’re going to hold people responsible. They can’t just get away with what they’re doing right now,” Pritzker warned. “Anybody that’s breaking the law, anybody that’s breaching the Constitution as a regular matter of the way they run their offices, those people all should be investigated.”
During his speech in New Hampshire, Pritzker called “for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption,” claiming the Democratic Party “must castigate [the GOP] on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box … It’s time to fight, everywhere, all at once.” The crowd cheered, more than 800 people, the largest the event had seen since 2020. “Republicans cannot know a moment of peace,” he added.
He went on to accuse Democratic politicians of championing a “culture of incrementalism,” leading to Republicans trampling over their party. “Those same do-nothing Democrats,” said Pritzker, “want to blame our losses on our defense of Black people, of trans kids, of immigrants, instead of their own lack of guts and gumption.” Then, while admitting the Dems “may need to fix … messaging and strategy,” he said the party’s “values are exactly where they should be … We will never join so many Republicans in a special place in hell reserved for quislings and cowards.”
He didn’t stop there. “What I find ironic about the current conversation surrounding our party,” he said, “is that the voices flocking to podcasts and cable news shows to admonish fellow Democrats for not caring enough about the struggles of working families are the same ones who, when it comes to relieving the struggles of real people, have been timid, not bold.” But what about the struggles of Illinoisans?
Of course, Pritzker didn’t mention how his party will punish Republicans at the ballot box or how it will change its messaging, nor did he present any grand ideas. The state elected him twice, but that only shows he knows how to campaign. He hasn’t decided if he’ll seek a third term as governor in Illinois next year, let alone whether he might pitch a bid for the presidency in 2028. Whatever his plan, he doesn’t seem too concerned about how to appeal to voters or improve his state. Instead, his primary focus appears to be to fight against people, not for people.
