CNN
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday that he would run for a third term in 2026, amid speculation over his ambitions for the 2028 presidential race, with the release of a campaign launch video featuring sharp criticism of President Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump’s made clear he’ll stop at nothing to get his way. I’m not about to stand by and let him tear down all we’re building in Illinois,” Pritzker says, appearing at the geographic center-point of the state.
In the video, Pritzker touts his accomplishments as governor over his first two terms, highlighting successful state budgets, minimum wage increases, gun safety efforts, and job growth. Pritzker also echoes the focus of many Democratic candidates on key issues including affordability and abortion rights.
And the billionaire governor, among several high-profile potential contenders for his party’s 2028 presidential nomination, presents himself as an effective bulwark against the Trump administration.
“Government ought to stand up for working families and be a force for good, not a weapon of revenge. Donald Trump’s made clear he’ll stop at nothing to get his way. I’m not about to stand by and let him tear down all we’re building in Illinois,” Pritzker says, just ahead of his official declaration that “I’m running for reelection.”
In a speech to supporters Thursday, Pritzker slammed Trump as a “megalomaniac narcissist” while also warning against complacency in the Democratic Party.
“Illinois, we have made big progress over these last seven years – but we have big challenges ahead. And while it is certainly tempting to lay all of it at the feet of the megalomaniac narcissist in the White House and his malignant clown car in Congress, the hard truth is that we all share some of the blame,” Pritzker said. “For too long, politicians have chosen what is safe over what is bold. It’s time to take our cues from the young people showing up and shouting out that you can’t abandon the fight before you even get started — fear of failure is not an excuse to never even try.”
Pritzker also keyed in on affordability issues, saying “everything is too damned expensive.” He criticized the Trump administration’s approach as part of the problem.
“From groceries to concert tickets to mortgages to cars to healthcare, we have created a world where one job isn’t enough to raise kids, one salary not enough to own a home and one lifetime of work is not enough to earn retirement,” he said. “And the answer does not lie in tariffs that tax our workers, budgets that gut Medicaid, and DOGE bros that strip research funding from our universities.”
In the aftermath of Democrats’ losses in 2024, Pritzker has emerged as one of several aspiring leaders for a party still searching for a path back to power. Already the two-term governor of the nation’s sixth-most populous state, Pritzker – an heir to a historic family fortune – has leveraged his wealth and influence to raise his profile while the party rebuilds.
He donated $1.5 million to the Wisconsin Democratic Party earlier this year for the blockbuster fight over a state Supreme Court seat, clashing with a rival billionaire, Elon Musk, in a significant victory for liberals. And he’s adopted a confrontational approach to the Trump administration while encouraging other Democrats to follow suit.
At a Capitol Hill hearing earlier this month, Pritzker rebuked the Trump administration over its immigration enforcement actions and the deployment of military assets to respond to protests in Los Angeles.
“We will not participate in abuses of power. 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 rights to peacefully protest,” Pritzker said. “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.”
Pritzker also traveled in April to the traditional early presidential primary state of New Hampshire, further stoking speculation about his ambitions for 2028 while exhorting his party to buck up for the fight against the second Trump administration. “The reckoning,” he told a room full of revved up Democrats, “is here.”
In a CNN interview during his visit to the state, Pritzker detailed his feelings about the politics of the moment.
“There is certain momentum where people are now feeling like – well, the politicians are feeling like, ‘Oh there’s a political reason why I should now speak out and be a fighter.’ I don’t care why you’re joining the fight at this point, we just need everybody out there, right?” he said. “And then there are others who are joining the fight because they’re coming to a real realization that, ‘This is much worse than I thought it would be and it’s getting worse.’ And then I look at some of the people who have capitulated and I wonder in the end, is this how you want people to think of you?”
CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report.
