Aside from his financial wizardry in the state, he has been a progressive leader. He has increased funding for K-12 education and expanded childcare and early childhood education. He has worked to modernize infrastructure including bridges, schools, roads and broadband. He helped ban assault weapons and ghost guns. Passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs act. He was one of the first in the nation to issue a stay at home order during Covid, second only to California. He raised the minimum wage. He abolished cash bail. He banned state funds from libraries that banned any books. He even legalized weed and expunged eight-hundred thousand convictions for weed related crimes. He strengthened Illinois’s laws protecting abortion access, and passed legislation creating protections for those who go to Illinois for reproductive care including abortions. He declared Illinois to be ground zero in the abortion fight when he addressed the state general assembly and called for the state to be a safe haven for reproductive rights.
When SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade he issued this statement. Here is a highlight from it.
To the right-wing officeholders who today are cheering the Supreme Court’s ruling: GET YOUR IRON BOOT OFF WOMEN’S NECKS! Hop off your high horse and know that what you’re calling a “celebration of life” today will actually lead to death — the death of women in abusive situations, the death of women whose health is at risk, the death of women and girls who will still seek abortions—ones that are unsafe and performed by unqualified back-alley butchers.
Let me make this explicit and clear to women throughout our state, the Midwest, and our nation: Illinois will be a safe haven for the exercise of your reproductive rights. In Illinois, Roe v. Wade is still the law, and it will remain the law as long as we have a pro-choice legislature and a pro-choice governor. Here, we trust you to make your own decisions about your reproductive health. We will defend your right to bodily autonomy.
In Illinois, we will hold firm to these rights and continue to work with stakeholders - many of whom are standing with me now - to expand them.
To that end, I am informing the General Assembly that I will be calling them into special session in the coming weeks to more firmly protect women’s reproductive rights in Illinois and address the challenges posed by this radical Supreme Court decision. I’m grateful to have the support and partnership of House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Senate President Don Harmon in this effort. Together, the Democratic leadership in Illinois is committed to taking swift action to further enshrine our commitment to reproductive healthcare.
I want to close by speaking directly to those who have the most at stake in today’s decision:
To the single mom juggling four kids and three-part time jobs, Illinois will fight for you. To the teenage CHILD, who endured rape or incest, Illinois will fight for you. To the marginalized and most vulnerable, who are being attacked at every turn by transphobic, or misogynistic or bigoted politicians, Illinois will fight for you. We will NOT turn back the clock. Here in the Land of Lincoln and the home state of Barack Obama, where we were the first to ratify women’s suffrage 100 years ago, we will continue the fight for freedom, liberty, and justice for ALL.
I absolutely understand where you’re coming from. No one should be a billionaire. They should not exist. But in this one, probably unique case, Pritzker has shown himself to be a good man and has brought Illinois from the brink back to economic stability. Check out what he has accomplished in Illinois since he was elected. If runs and wins in 2028, he could be a powerful force in turning this country around.
thanks for the trench report - super grateful for it. will look at him a little more seriously because actual empathy that straddles class is a good start. if he can articulate that the class struggle is real, the average american has effectively lost and that he has concrete plans in concert with others to fix it… thats the first hole punch in a ticket to ride.
I’m also one of his constituents and originally had the same grumbles about the $v$ election. I know someone who worked with him in his old life as a nepobaby at the family company, however, so I asked them about him.
They said that he recognized his lack of real experience and perspective and made up for it by surrounding himself with a diverse group of people. He would invite those insights, absorb them, and give ample credit to those around him.
Watching him as governor, he appears to still do the same thing. He is passionate about things as if he had lived experience because he surrounds himself with those that do, amplifying their fight with his unfairly-acquired power.
Thanks for this. I’m a few thousand miles from Illinois, so my Pritzker awareness isn’t robust, but with what you’ve written and quoted here, I’m moving him to my list of good guy Democratic politicians.
Bo one becomes a billion naire without standing on the misery of others. He can fuck himself to until I see him standing in the streets with us not a podium with a microphone.
He can fuck himself to until I see him standing in the streets with us not a podium with a microphone.
Like I said, I get how people feel about billionaires because I feel the same. They should not exist. However, I think Pritker is a good man and is using his wealth to actually do some good. In answer to your request, here are a couple pictures of him on the streets with marchers and protesters. There are more if you want to take the time to look for them.
Just do me one favor. Don’t choose to vote for a candidate just because he tells you he it going to work towards noble goals over a candidate who has an honest history of working towards and achieving such goals. Look up Pritzker’s history, actions, and accomplishments rather than dismissing him out of hand. I really think that he is our best option now that Bernie seems to be out of the picture.
I lived in Illinois when Pritzker first ran against Rauner, a republican billionaire. I was pissed that those were my choices. But I knew how bad Rauner had been. Illinois was in a debt spiral and Rauner had only made it worse. He was the latest in 20 years of incompetent and in some cases criminal leadership for the state. Quinn, the governor before Rauner had averaged one credit downgrade every 181 days. Rauner somehow managed to do worse! He averaged a downgrade every 101 days.. Illinois was literally a step away from junk bond status in 2017 according to Moody’s.
I held my nose and voted for Pritzker and his performance has been nothing short of amazing. He turned Illinois around financially. In 2023 Pritzker earned Illinois its ninth credit rating upgrade in two years. Illinois had not had a credit upgrade prior to these since June of 2000!. The state is now in the “A” category again. In 2024, the state was #1 in the nation for workforce development, #2 for corporate investments, and #5 for cost of living.
Aside from his financial wizardry in the state, he has been a progressive leader. He has increased funding for K-12 education and expanded childcare and early childhood education. He has worked to modernize infrastructure including bridges, schools, roads and broadband. He helped ban assault weapons and ghost guns. Passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs act. He was one of the first in the nation to issue a stay at home order during Covid, second only to California. He raised the minimum wage. He abolished cash bail. He banned state funds from libraries that banned any books. He even legalized weed and expunged eight-hundred thousand convictions for weed related crimes. He strengthened Illinois’s laws protecting abortion access, and passed legislation creating protections for those who go to Illinois for reproductive care including abortions. He declared Illinois to be ground zero in the abortion fight when he addressed the state general assembly and called for the state to be a safe haven for reproductive rights.
When SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade he issued this statement. Here is a highlight from it.
I absolutely understand where you’re coming from. No one should be a billionaire. They should not exist. But in this one, probably unique case, Pritzker has shown himself to be a good man and has brought Illinois from the brink back to economic stability. Check out what he has accomplished in Illinois since he was elected. If runs and wins in 2028, he could be a powerful force in turning this country around.
thanks for the trench report - super grateful for it. will look at him a little more seriously because actual empathy that straddles class is a good start. if he can articulate that the class struggle is real, the average american has effectively lost and that he has concrete plans in concert with others to fix it… thats the first hole punch in a ticket to ride.
I’m also one of his constituents and originally had the same grumbles about the $v$ election. I know someone who worked with him in his old life as a nepobaby at the family company, however, so I asked them about him.
They said that he recognized his lack of real experience and perspective and made up for it by surrounding himself with a diverse group of people. He would invite those insights, absorb them, and give ample credit to those around him.
Watching him as governor, he appears to still do the same thing. He is passionate about things as if he had lived experience because he surrounds himself with those that do, amplifying their fight with his unfairly-acquired power.
Thanks for this. I’m a few thousand miles from Illinois, so my Pritzker awareness isn’t robust, but with what you’ve written and quoted here, I’m moving him to my list of good guy Democratic politicians.
There are 9, now including Pritzker.
Bo one becomes a billion naire without standing on the misery of others. He can fuck himself to until I see him standing in the streets with us not a podium with a microphone.
Like I said, I get how people feel about billionaires because I feel the same. They should not exist. However, I think Pritker is a good man and is using his wealth to actually do some good. In answer to your request, here are a couple pictures of him on the streets with marchers and protesters. There are more if you want to take the time to look for them.
Just do me one favor. Don’t choose to vote for a candidate just because he tells you he it going to work towards noble goals over a candidate who has an honest history of working towards and achieving such goals. Look up Pritzker’s history, actions, and accomplishments rather than dismissing him out of hand. I really think that he is our best option now that Bernie seems to be out of the picture.
At rally in south suburbs, governor urges ‘protests paired with policy and action’
Marching in Pride protest (from his instagram)
Marching in the 2020 Juneteenth parade in Chicago
So we have a guy who may do the right thing. Let’s see what he REALLY DOES.
I’ll step back and give him a chance, but for me, the jury is put