CHICAGO — When Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker endorsed Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton for Sen. Dick Durbin’s soon-to-be-vacant seat, many Democrats took it as a message: Would-be contenders should clear the way.
The free-spending billionaire has not only quickly built a national profile as an anti-Trump force in the Democratic Party, but also has a history of dropping millions of dollars to boost Democrats and their causes across battleground states. He knows how to assemble a formidable political infrastructure in the Land of Lincoln, as evidenced by two successful statewide campaigns. And as a two-term governor, he’s amassed power in the state that replaced a decades-old machine that has come crumbling down in a series of federal corruption cases.
But the tricky business of local political entrenchment is quickly becoming a factor. Pritzker’s involvement — and questions over its extent — is the talk of the race. Some politicos and strategists are already weighing how the outcome could impact Pritzker’s potential 2028 White House ambitions (a suggestion that allies of the governor call ridiculous). And they’re wondering how much money he’s willing to lay on the line.
NBC News spoke with nearly roughly a dozen former aides, political strategists and allies of campaigns for this piece.
If Pritzker’s backing of Stratton was meant to send a chilling message, it has so far done little to dissuade formidable Democrats from stepping forward. Two members of Congress, Reps. Robin Kelly and Raja Krishnamoorthi, have since joined the contest, while Rep. Lauren Underwood is mulling a launch.
Still, a Chicago Tribune editorial gave the governor a finger-wagging, arguing that even more candidates would have been lining up.
“Democrats who before might have assumed they would jump into the fray quickly once Durbin bowed out can be forgiven for thinking harder now about giving up their current positions,” the Chicago Tribune editorial stated earlier this week. “It’s clear they will have to take on not just a candidate with statewide name recognition but the Pritzker organization as well.”
His camp was accused in an NBC Chicago report of attempting to deter Underwood from entering the contest — something the governor called “ridiculous,” saying no one should be dissuaded from running. But the congresswoman was nonetheless prompted to give an interview to the station in which she said she wouldn’t be intimidated. NBC News did not independently confirm those allegations.
Depending on how Pritzker and his team play their hand, strategists in Illinois say, the governor could be putting much at risk. Coming off as the billionaire putting his thumb on the scale could only energize movement toward a progressive candidate.
Gambling on one Democrat and losing could reflect poorly on his own political prowess or raise doubt about the strength of his record as governor, given that Stratton is likely to campaign heavily on the record the two built together.
A veteran Illinois Democratic strategist involved in myriad statewide and congressional campaigns argued that a loss for the lieutenant governor could be debilitating to Pritzker’s national profile since Stratton would be running on his record.
“The peril is if the message fails, it’s a fail probably for the presidential campaign too,” said the strategist, who is not involved in any of the campaigns vying for the post. “If this race goes down, the presidential thing becomes a nonstarter.”
Pritzker’s camp declined to comment. But his allies privately call that thinking absurd. They say political pundits are reading too much into a governor’s endorsement of his top lieutenant and that if Stratton loses in a Democratic primary, it wouldn’t be because of a platform that has been popular among Illinois Democrats. In addition, Pritzker could have invited more questions if he hadn’t backed his governing partner.
There’s been no discussion yet on what kind of investment Pritzker may make. Krishnamoorthi, however, enters the race with nearly $20 million in the bank. But the question of the governor’s financial investment has also turned into an early question. Pritzker plowed some $350 million of his own money into his two gubernatorial campaigns. He does not take outside money or fundraise.
“This is not an endorsement and a $5,000 check,” the veteran strategist said of Pritzker’s potential investment into Stratton’s campaign. “The Pritzker people understand that this is 100% she’s running on his record, and if she doesn’t win it’s a problem.”
Delmarie Cobb, a longtime Chicago Democratic consultant, raised other potential pitfalls for Pritzker. If the governor or his team are seen as disparaging anyone in the race, that could backfire on Stratton.
“It could force people to look at Juliana in a way they wouldn’t have initially. Because is she then going to be your puppet? Is she going to be independent? Given that we’re in this political time that we’re in, we want fighters in Congress. … We want to also have fighters in Congress who are independent,” Cobb said.
A person close to Stratton’s campaign said the narrative around Pritzker trying to clear the field is dismissive of her own work, which has included advocating for those living in food deserts, doing outreach in rural areas of the state, and helping protect reproductive rights.
Stratton, however, must now forge a different path with fundraising, given that Pritzker had self-funded their campaigns in the past.
The person said the hyperfocus on Pritzker’s endorsement also discredits the strong rollout of her campaign, which she launched one day after Durbin announced he would retire.
Pritzker’s endorsement followed in short order as did that of Illinois’ soon-to-be senior senator, Tammy Duckworth. On Wednesday, a former Illinois senator and the first African American woman elected to the Senate, Carol Moseley Braun, announced she too backed Stratton.
“Throwing his heart into being loyal to his lieutenant governor, who happens to be an African American woman, won’t hurt him in a Democratic primary if she loses,” said another longtime Democratic strategist in Illinois who is not part of any of the campaigns in the race. “It will only hurt him if she flops, if she’s just embarrassing.”