Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced he is running for a third term Thursday morning.
Pritzker posted a video announcing his run on his official website at 8 a.m. Filmed in Chestnut, Illinois, Pritzker speaks in the video about the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on Illinois farmers and industry, and the current budget bill’s intent to cut Medicaid.
He also touts his record, saying he’s achieved seven balanced budgets in a row and nine credit upgrades for the state of Illinois, while raising the Illinois minimum wage, decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana, capping the cost of insulin, banning assault weapons, lowering prescription drug costs and creating jobs.
“We don’t just talk about problems; in Illinois, we solve them,” he says in the video. “Because we know government ought to stand up for working families and be a force for good, not a weapon of revenge.”
At a formal campaign kickoff event Thursday morning at the Grand Crossing Park Field House, where he launched his first campaign for governor in 2017, Pritzker said, “through every challenge and every triumph, I have grown to love Illinois even more.”
“When I was first elected, I told you that I was prepared to be a happy warrior on behalf of our state, even if it meant going it alone,” he said. “Sometime over the last seven years, I looked up and realized I was surrounded by an army. There is power in saying out loud the story of Illinois is not set in stone. We can rewrite it when we choose, and we should feel justifiably proud of where we come from and where we are trying to go.”
Pritzker was first elected to office in 2018, defeating incumbent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. In 2022, Pritzker won a second term in office, defeating Republican Darren Bailey.
There has been speculation in recent months that he might run for president in 2028, particularly following a speech in April in which he took to task both President Trump and the shortcomings within his own Democratic Party.
Pritzker has been one of the most outspoken critics of President Donald Trump. Most recently, Pritzker called Trump’s immigration policies an “abuse of power.”
“We will not participate in abuses of power,” Pritzker said after the Trump administration deployed the National Guard during anti-ICE protests in LA. “We will not violate court orders. We will not ignore the Constitution. We will not defy the Supreme Court. We will not take away people’s right to peacefully protest. We also respect and expect this administration to respect the traditions and legal precedents that dictate how and when our National Guard and military are deployed.”
In addition to his formal campaign announcement in Chicago on Thursday morning, Pritzker is scheduled to hold campaign events later Thursday in Rockford, Peoria, and Springfield. He will make additional campaign stops Friday in Belleville and West Frankfort.
Pritzker has yet to announce a running mate for his re-election campaign. Sitting Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton will be running for the U.S. Senate in 2026, after Sen. Dick Durbin announced earlier this year he will not be running for re-election.
Meantime, Republican DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick also has announced a bid for governor, as has Joseph Severino, who ran for Congress against U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider as a Republican in 2022 and as an independent write-in candidate in 2024. South suburban mechanic Phillip Perez also has announced an independent campaign for governor.
