Democrats from across the country gathered at venues around Chicago Monday morning for the opening events of the party’s presidential nominating convention, with Gov. J.B. Pritzker stopping by three state delegation breakfasts.
Speaking before a room full of Illinois Democrats during an early morning breakfast, Pritzker touted Democratic accomplishments in the state that include raising the minimum wage, amending the state constitution to codify workers’ rights and enshrining abortion rights as a fundamental right for women.
“And who voted against all of that? The Republicans. Literally, all of those things. It’s almost as if Republicans don’t want working families to succeed,” Pritzker said at the Royal Sonesta hotel. “MAGA Republicans are attacking the environment and voting against education and scientific advancement…frankly, it’s embarrassing for them.”
But Pritzker, who was on the shortlist to become Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate, also acknowledged that he was an unlikely candidate for spearheading those legislative wins for Democrats.
“You all remember that back in 2018, our party was not exactly begging me to run for governor. No one was crying out for a white, Ukrainian-American, Jewish billionaire,” Pritzker, who has served in his post for 5 1/2 years, said to chuckles. “I get it. I get it. But I am a Democrat.”
The governor declined to tip his hand on whether he’d run for a third term in 2026, noting that by the end of his current term he will be the longest serving Democratic governor in state history — a fact that prompted an eruption of applause from the audience.
“I’m not suggesting that I want to try to beat Jim Thompson’s 14-year record,” Pritzker said, referencing the Republican governor who served from 1977 to 1991. “My wife’s not here and I don’t want anybody talking to her about this stuff. But she is my term limit, so if all of you want to talk to her, convince her one way or another, by the way, you’re welcome to do that.”
Asked about a possible third term later in the morning, Pritzker said, “I’m not thinking about any other terms other than the one I’m serving in.”
Other speakers at the breakfast included Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside, State Rep. U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates and U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen of Moline. But there were national Democratic figures who made appearances, including New Jersey senator and former presidential candidate Cory Booker and a surprise guest, Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz, whose husband Tim is Harris’ running mate.
“You are my first stop. You are my Monday morning, first period,” Walz, who like her husband, was a teacher by trade, said to applause.
“Together Kamala and Tim will fight for the future that all of our children, all of our children, deserve, she said. “We have 78 days to go, 78 short days to make history. Seventy-eight days to do the work together. You and I, and Tim, and Kamala, and Doug (Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff), and all the representatives in this classroom. I’m asking you to do the work that’s in front of us, to volunteer, to bring a friend, to have those conversations in grocery store parking lots, or the church parking lots, or whatever parking lot you find yourself in.”
After leaving the breakfast at the Royal Sonesta, Pritzker greeted Democrats from the Florida and Pennsylvania delegations at events just a few blocks away, introducing himself to less familiar faces.
Pritzker followed Tim Walz on stage at the Pennsylvania delegation breakfast, each speaking for a few minutes under the chandeliers of a Palmer House hotel ballroom, where dozens of delegates in blazers and lanyards pulled their phones out to snap photos of the Democratic heavy hitters.
“Seventy-eight days. You can do anything for 78 days. We’ll sleep when we’re dead,” Walz said.
He told the delegations to think about “looking at your children, waking up on that sunny November morning and being able to smile and say, ‘My God, we elected a woman president.’”
Also at that breakfast was Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who like Pritzker was in the running for the VP slot that Walz eventually filled. Pennsylvania is a key battleground state for Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in what appears to be a close race, according to various polls.
“I think this race has been reset,” Shapiro told reporters outside of his state’s morning gathering. “And I will tell you in Pennsylvania, it’s tough, right? You can get to a race that’s sort of basically statistically tied, and getting that last point or two in Pennsylvania is really, really tough. But I am very confident.”
Surveys conducted earlier this month by The New York Times and Siena College showed Harris ahead in Pennsylvania and other two battleground states, Michigan and Wisconsin, each by four percentage points, a notable reversal since President Joe Biden stepped down from the race in July after a shaky debate performance against Trump the month before. Prior polls had shown either a slight lead for Trump over Biden or the two in a tie.
Illinois, meanwhile, is considered a virtual lock for Harris in November as no Republican presidential candidate has won the state since George H.W. Bush in 1988. Trump lost Illinois in each of the last two elections by 17 percentage points.
Pritzker was scheduled to meet President Joe Biden, who is giving Monday’s DNC keynote address, at Soldier Field Monday afternoon,