WBEZ Chicago28%
Pritzker for president? Handicapping the Illinois governor’s political future 30%
By Tina Sfondeles53%
7/13/2026, 3:05:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 28 faulty reasoning types, including Availability Heuristic, Hasty Generalization, and Representativeness Heuristic, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 19.7% saturation with 184 hits. Analysis detected 1,351 faulty-reasoning hits from 932 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 32.9% and a BS Rank of 30% (21,414 of 30,584 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 70.00% of the article peer group.
Illinois Gov.
JB Pritzker has consistently said he’s focused on winning a third term for governor in November — and despite the speculation, those close to him insist he hasn’t made a decision on whether he’ll run for president in 2028.
But the governor is showing up in presidential polls, and he’s building coalitions with state parties while also strengthening his national name recognition.
He has also explored future fundraising paths that don’t include self-funding — if a presidential run is truly in the cards.
Is he really going to run?
It’s the most common question Pritzker is getting from local and national reporters.
And for now, the answer is unclear.
The Chicago Sun-Times spoke with Pritzker in Corpus Christi, Texas, on June 26 before he delivered an address before the Texas Democratic Party.
Asked where he is in his decision-making process on whether to run for president, the governor denied there was even a “decision-making process.”
“Not at all,” Pritzker said.
“I literally, I’m running for reelection as governor because we have a whole lot more work to do in the state.”
Asked directly if he planned to run for president at a June 16 event in Chicago, the governor deflected and called the election “the most important election of our lifetimes.”
“What I can tell you?: In ‘28, I’m going to be very involved,” Pritzker said.
“We have to restore and also improve the trajectory of the United States — and many of the problems that we’re currently facing, we faced in Illinois.”
And last year, he told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker he wouldn’t outright dismiss a possible presidential bid: “I can’t rule anything out.”
It is truly too early to know who is in and who’s out, although some people, including former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and California Gov.
Gavin Newsom, are making it clear that they’re testing the presidential waters.
But most Democrats are focusing on the crucial 2026 midterm elections and believe that the narrative for Democrats will vastly shift after November.
In this political landscape, it’s a safe bet Pritzker is eyeing a presidential run, but he’s not definitively in.
Would the billionaire governor self-fund a presidential campaign?
No.
Despite Pritzker’s vast wealth — with his Forbes net worth estimated at $4.3 billion — Pritzker would take in contributions for a presidential run.
NBC News in May first confirmed Pritzker is exploring fundraising opportunities, and the Sun-Times has also independently confirmed that strategy.
The reason is clear.
Presidential campaigns can cost billions — not millions — of dollars.
Pritzker spent more than $350 million on his bids in 2018 and 2022.
Last year, he boosted his campaign fund with $25 million.
He’s also given at least $160 million to Democrats in state and federal elections since 2015.
The governor also showed off his fundraising prowess ahead of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, with the host committee raising $97 million.
Beyond his financial capabilities, digital fundraising in a presidential campaign also has a populist effect, with voters feeling part of the process.
If he runs, when would he announce?
Pritzker announced his run for governor in April 2017, some 11 months before the Illinois primary.
He faced a contentious field of five Democrats, and he had to reintroduce himself to Illinois voters who perhaps only knew him for his family’s charitable contributions or from his run for Congress in 1998.
But running for president is different, and some candidates who announce early lose steam quickly.
The governor will have the added benefit of already being in the spotlight as an elected official, so there’s no big rush to jump in quickly.
Candidates typically register with the Federal Election Commission in the spring, a year before the presidential primary.
Primary debates usually happen in the summer.
That means that Pritzker will only have a couple of months to decide next year whether he’s in for a run.
What do the polls say about Pritzker’s chances?
Pritzker is on the list of names popping up on presidential polls, which The New York Times is tracking.
He’s even one of six potential front-runners they’re tracking as polls come in, with his numbers ranging from 1% to 7%.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has topped those polls so far, with Newsom, Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Gov.
Josh Shapiro rounding out the top five.
Celinda Lake, a veteran Democratic pollster who did polling for Joe Biden in his winning 2020 presidential campaign and was a general consultant for Bill Clinton's winning 1992 presidential bid, says those early polls “don’t mean much,” and are simply about early name recognition.
She also said voters are very focused on the midterm elections, and they’re very motivated.
“Governors, who may well be our strongest candidates, have an inherent disadvantage because of the lack of national name recognition,” Lake told the Sun-Times.
“The key things to watch are less early polling and more early resources, a strong narrative on their record, local enthusiasm, early relations with organizations that make up the base.”
Pritzker said the names that are being included on presidential polls show Democrats have “a heck of a bench.”
The governor mentioned a long list of governors and members of Congress, name-dropping Sen.
Cory Booker, U.S.
Rep.
Ro Khanna and Ocasio-Cortez.
“I would say we really are in a good position to win in 2028 with the bench that we’ve got,” Pritzker said.
Gov.
JB Pritzker downplays presidential ambitions, says Dems have a ‘deep bench’ of contenders
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100%flagged-word coverageNBC News
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