For a guy who insists he isn’t testing the presidential waters, Gov. J.B. Pritzker sure is diving into the pool a lot lately.
A couple of weeks or so after visiting New Hampshire and one-upping President Joe Biden (intentionally or not) with a rousing defense of abortion rights that made national news, Pritzker grabbed the national spotlight again yesterday.
The Democratic governor was the first guest on Jake Tapper’s “State of the Union” show Sunday morning on CNN. And he did absolutely nothing to cool potential interest from his party about a future potential candidacy for 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
On guns, for instance, while calling for a national ban on assault weapons and large-capacity firearms, he said “red flag” laws to keep guns out of the hands of troubled young men and others with problems wouldn’t work unless a family member steps up to report problems.
He also talked about how, in his last state budget, he allotted hundreds of millions of dollars to help deal with underlying economic inequity problems that spark much violence.
On abortion, asked if Biden had done enough, Pritzker said, “The federal government needs to do more,” something, he added, that he told the president personally in a conference call last week. Pritzker didn’t give specifics but, according to his staff, he was referencing earlier calls to protect physicians who prescribe abortion pills, postal employees who deliver them and financial help for states like Illinois in dealing with large numbers of women arriving from other states in which abortion is now illegal.
Asked if he’ll support Biden if the incumbent seeks a new term, Pritzker tersely replied, “I will.” But with all respect to Tapper, that wasn’t the right question. With increasing numbers of Democrats losing confidence in Biden, the question is whether or not Pritzker will run if there’s a vacancy.
As if to underline the point, Pritzker, along with Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, will be in Washington today for a White House confab on curbing gun violence. And Lt Gov. Juliana Stratton is set to testify Tuesday before Sen. Dick Durbin’s, D-Ill, Judiciary Committee. The subject: the legal implications of the Dobbs anti-abortion ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.
Illinois is clearly a blue state and none of that will hurt Pritzker’s re-election prospects. But to paraphrase the old line, good local politics is sometimes good national politics, too.
What else we’re watching this week
Meanwhile, it looks like that special legislative session Pritzker had called to deal with abortion laws won’t occur until around Labor Day. Don’t be surprised if lawmakers not only take up reproductive rights but also new anti-gun measures.
Also back in the news are U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, (R-Channahon) and the House January 6 Committee. The panel has been more successful than many anticipated in shining a spotlight on the insurrection and will make some news as word leaks out about what former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone had to say in testimony Friday and what Trump pal Steve Bannon might have to say in an upcoming hearing
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is visiting Paris and London on an economic development trip–and if truth be told, probably to hobnob a bit herself. More on that later in the week.
And Personal PAC, an abortion-rights group, endorsed Elizabeth Rochford for a key vacant seat on the Illinois Supreme Court, specifically the newly redrawn 2nd District which represents the north and northwest suburbs. In the primary, the group backed Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, who finished second behind Rochford.
That, as they say, was then.
