Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to announce decision on potential third term and presidential run by July

CHICAGO (WLS) — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is apparently getting closer to a decision on his political future and whether he will run for a third term or seek higher office instead.

The governor sat down for an exclusive interview with ABC7 Chicago Monday.

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Pritzker is still walking the political future tightrope, with a reelection campaign on one side and a possible presidential run on the other.

“I know you’d like me to make an announcement here on your interview, but I must say that you know my No. 1 priority is making sure that we’re we’ve steadied the shift for the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said.

One consideration Pritzker says is how he could best fight the changes coming from the Trump administration.

“So, you know, how I play a role in that is something I have not decided, but I certainly will be in the fight,” he said.

With the news breaking over the weekend that former President Joe Biden has aggressive prostate cancer, Pritzker is hoping people will rally to support him even if they didn’t vote for him.

“He’s a fighter, too. And so, I know, when faced with something like prostate cancer and the diagnosis like this, that he’s going to be fighting. His family will be standing with him in that fight. And I think all of us should,” Pritzker said.

A recent report showed that state revenue projections will be half a billion dollars less than expected.

Could that impact the low-level asks that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson made in his recent trip to Springfield?

“We felt like those were things that the legislature should take into account. I’ve said that to members of the legislature. So, we’ll have to see how it all works out. But it’s a tight budget year. So, nobody’s going to get everything they want,” Pritzker said. “There’s two weeks left, and a lot of work seem to go into it, and I’ll be, you know, in the room, or my people will be in the room. We’ll figure it out.”

As the governor mulls his own political future, he’s also assessing the state of the Democratic Party.

“So, whenever you lose a national election, everybody’s trying to regroup and figure out what went wrong. And, what should we be doing going forward? For me, I think we should be focused on the 2026 elections,” Pritzker said.

And as the Chicago Bears are now focusing their future plans on building a new stadium in Arlington Heights, the governor is hoping they will stay in Chicago.

The issue always comes down to money, and right now the Bears and the state are not in sync on that issue.

That could make keeping the Bears in Chicago a challenge, and expedite an exit from Chicago.

Keeping the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field or a new lakefront stadium nearby may be a nice idea to some, but it’s one the governor says will ultimately be decided by economics.

“They’re a private business. They’re making decisions for their own economic benefit. We obviously want that to benefit the state as best it can, but I’m not going to use taxpayer dollars if it’s not good for taxpayers to do so,” Pritzker said.

That makes the site the Bears bought in Arlington Heights more likely as their next home because the governor says the team, to this point, has made no acceptable proposal for using taxpayer dollars.

“Personally, I would like to see the Chicago Bears stay in the city of Chicago. It’s where I’ve watched them over these many years. I’m a Bears fan, but again, it’s a private business. They’re going to make decisions on their own,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker said he’ll make a decision on whether to run for a third term as governor by July, when the Cook County Democratic Party meets to slate candidates.

“Well, some of it is personal, right? I have a family. They’ve been hyper-tolerant, and, you know, on board with my being governor for now, you know, one and a half terms,” Pritzker said.

The governor said he’s not worried about third-term perils.

“I think that that commentary can apply to any day as governor. There are perils, right? And who knew? I’ll just give you one of them: that we would face an international pandemic. Who knew that we would have a migrant crisis?” he said.

For years, Pritzker has been building his national presence. So, pundits differ on whether or not he needs to be in office to best position himself for a possible campaign for president.

As the race to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin comes more into focus, with Lauren Underwood’s decision not to run, Pritzker hopes the campaigns won’t devolve into mudslinging.

But politics is a bare-knuckle sport in Illinois, and there’s a lot a stake with the Senate seat.