Pritzker wins 3rd term as presidential speculation builds
[November 04, 2026]
By Ben Szalinski and Brenden Moore
CHICAGO — Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker was elected to a rare third term
as Illinois governor Tuesday, vanquishing Republican Darren Bailey in a
race that was once again called immediately when polls closed as
Democrats rode a historic wave of momentum in races throughout the
country.
“The early results across the country are resuscitating a strange
feeling inside of me: hope,” Pritzker, who invested more than $40
million in races outside Illinois, said in his victory speech, delivered
in a Navy Pier ballroom shortly after polls closed. “Because it looks
like maybe, just maybe, something is stirring in the conscience of
America.”
The Associated Press called the race as soon as polls closed. With 61%
of votes counted, Pritzker had a roughly 60% to 37% lead over Bailey, a
margin of more than 500,000 votes out of about 2.7 million counted as of
9:30 p.m. Independent Collin Corbett was in third place with about 3%,
though exact margins were subject to change.
Pritzker finished the 15-minute address with his signature “Are you
ready for the fight?” rallying cry. But the governor, one of President
Donald Trump’s most pugnacious critics, delivered an unapologetic love
letter to Illinois, attempting to convey a message of hope over fear —
though it included hints at his national ambitions.
“In the world right now, politicians fall into one of two camps: Those
that ask you to hope, and those that want you to fear,” Pritzker said.
“For eight years, I’ve asked you to join me in hope. And I’d like to
take a measure tonight of what hope, and hard work, has gotten us.”
Pritzker then recited a litany of legislative accomplishments from the
first two terms, such as raising the minimum wage, passing balanced
budgets and expanding abortion rights.
“And if all of that wasn’t good enough for you – well, hope has also
given us a winning White Sox season, and a Bears playoff win over the
Packers and a Chicago Pope,” Pritzker said.
But if he started with a love letter to state he’s led for nearly eight
years, his ending struck a decidedly national tone, alluding to the
question that shadowed him throughout the 2026 campaign: Will he seek
his party’s nomination for president in 2028?
“There is one question I have gotten a lot in the last few months –
what’s next?” Pritzker said. “The answer is simple. I’m going to ask you
to continue to hope – and to wrap your hope, in courage. We climbed one
mountain tonight. But we are sitting at the base of another.”
The mood was less cheery in Effingham, where Bailey addressed the crowd
at 9:30 p.m. Bailey’s running mate Aaron Del Mar initially told
reporters just before 9 p.m. that pair wouldn’t concede until votes are
counted.
“I have no regrets,” an emotional Bailey said. “We hit, we fought, we
worked hard, you were by our side – there are no regrets.”
The outcome was not a surprise given Illinois’ Democratic lean and a
favorable national climate for the party. And Bailey couldn’t compete
with Pritzker’s vast financial resources, allowing the Democrat to
control the narrative and denying the Republican the ability to respond
in a meaningful way.
Start of 2028 campaign?
While Pritzker ran on a long list of accomplishments during his second
term, he made clear throughout the campaign there’s still work to do. He
repeated the point Tuesday.
In between shaking hands and slapping backs at Manny’s Deli in the South
Loop, a traditional Election Day stop for Illinois politicos, Pritzker
told reporters he was already thinking ahead to the fall veto session,
when he hopes to pass legislation to keep the Bears in Illinois and
regulate data centers. And the governor told Capitol News Illinois in
October that he would like to continue stacking balanced budgets and
credit rating upgrades and see universal preschool through to full
implementation.
But Pritzker said little about his third term plans in his speech.
Instead, he quickly took aim at the man he’s quarreled with for the last
two years: President Donald Trump.
“Fear greed. Fear cruelty. Fear corruption. Fear intolerance and
callousness and unchecked power,” Pritzker said. “Fear politics devoid
of empathy. Fear any leader who does not appreciate a life filled with
simple joys.”
With an American flag as a backdrop, Pritzker outlined national
challenges such as healthcare, campaign finance reform and the explosive
growth of artificial intelligence companies he believes should be
challenged.
Pritzker first started fielding questions about interest in the
presidency after his 2022 victory speech contained national undertones.
He’s downplayed interest in the White House for years, but now the clock
is ticking toward a decision as the year winds down. Barack Obama
announced his presidential campaign in Springfield in 2007 just four
months after the midterm election. Though Pritzker dismissed the notion
that the 2028 primary has effectively begun.
“I don’t know who that begins for,” Pritzker said earlier in the day. “I
can tell you that tomorrow, I’m gonna be continuing the work of being
governor.”
Pritzker professed his love for the state, and his current job, during
his speech Tuesday evening. He also praised Illinoisians for protesting
Trump.
“I love that the people here never once fell into the trap of succumbing
to the wiles of a petty tyrant, but instead, we recommitted ourselves to
the noble precept that democracy and freedom go hand-in-hand,” Pritzker
said.
[to top of second column]
|
JB and MK Pritzker are joined by Lt. Gov.-elect Christian Mitchell
and Teddi Pritzker, the governor’s daughter, on stage after the
Pritzker-Mitchell ticket was declared winner of the race for
governor. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Ben Szalinski)
Illinois’ governor has raised his national profile significantly during
his second term, in part as Trump put the state in his crosshairs.
Despite being on the ballot himself, he traveled the country extensively
on behalf of Democratic candidates across the country.
Pritzker’s travel to early primary states like South Carolina, New
Mexico and Nevada raised speculation that on top of the governor’s
stated purpose of supporting Democrats on the ballot in 2026, he was
laying the groundwork and building relationships ahead of 2028.
Pritzker also donated at least $40 million to Democratic candidates and
causes in his personal capacity and through Ready for the Fight PAC,
which is run by his political team.
Those donations have prioritized Democrats running in Republican states
and districts, especially candidates of color running in southern states
where district lines were redrawn following the Supreme Court’s ruling
weakening protections against racial gerrymandering. Several of them
were on track to win.
History in Illinois
Pritzker, who will become the longest-serving Democratic governor in
Illinois history upon completion of his second term, is the first of his
party to win a third term. And he’s the first governor of either party
to accomplish the feat since Republican Jim Thompson in 1982.
His more than 60% vote share is on pace to exceed his first two
elections and be the highest for a Democratic governor since Adlai
Stevenson II in 1948.
Pritzker led Cook County — home to more than 40% of the state’s
population — 77.3%-19.8% as of 8:45 p.m. and led in the suburban collar
counties, according to unofficial returns.
Pritzker was on pace as of Tuesday evening to be the first Democrat to
carry McHenry County in a governor’s race since 1852, if the results
hold. He also held a lead in Sangamon County, which hasn’t gone blue
since 1964.
Despite campaigning with a new approach that promised “more listening
and less talking” in the state’s northeastern corner, Bailey trailed in
every suburban county that had reported results as of 9:30 p.m.
The Republican nominee was leading most counties outside the Chicago
region, though Pritzker led in major downstate population centers,
including McLean, Peoria, and St. Clair counties.
Pritzker, a self-funding billionaire, poured more than $90 million into
his campaign account this election cycle. This helped fuel a relentless
paid advertising campaign that promoted his governing record while
highlighting Bailey’s ties to Trump and socially conservative positions
on issues like abortion and guns.
The most cutting Pritzker attack ads focused on the curriculum of a
private school Bailey founded with his wife, which contended that a
biblical text used in the school teaches that dinosaurs and humans
coexisted, though scientific evidence says they went extinct about 65
million years before humans.
In an interview with WGN that was later amplified by Pritzker messaging,
Bailey wouldn’t say whether he believed it himself, rhetorically asking,
“Were you there?”
It was a moment that highlighted the challenges for Bailey’s second run.
But Bailey also blamed Pritzker for a threat the school received by
email, which the Illinois State Police have been unable to trace,
according to Bailey’s campaign.
The Xenia farmer started the general election campaign with an olive
branch to the Chicago region, temporarily moving into an apartment in
the South Loop, appearing at Bulls and White Sox games and even
apologizing for calling the state’s most populous city a “hellhole” in
2022.
He promised to be laser-focused on affordability, education and public
safety. And he said he would not legislate his personal anti-abortion
position.
But many Illinois voters only saw the version of Bailey that Pritzker
wanted them to see, with the governor’s campaign outspending his
challenger at least 25-to-1.
Bailey did not have enough campaign cash to get on television — a
necessity to communicate with voters on a mass scale in a state of
nearly 13 million.
And Republican megadonor Richard Uihlein, who gave Bailey $12 million
directly and $40 million to an anti-Pritzker PAC in 2022, gave just
$6,900 this cycle.
Peyton Cook contributed to this story from Effingham.
Capitol News Illinois
is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state
government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is
funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R.
McCormick Foundation. |
