* Pritzker “makes no apologies” as his re-election campaign puts his record up for examination, Tina Sfondeles reports…

When J.B. Pritzker first announced his run for governor in a packed South Side gymnasium in 2017, he told reporters he’d be a “progressive governor for everyone.”

Since then, the Gold Coast Democrat has signed four budgets, touted improvements in the state’s shoddy financial ratings, and signed legislation that raised the minimum wage, legalized marijuana and enshrined the right to get an abortion in Illinois at a historic time. […]

“I have had to manage through a lot of crises over the course of my life, and I’m not suggesting they’re all like a global pandemic,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times in an interview a little over a week ago.

“I’m just saying that in a difficult circumstance, when tensions are high, and it’s an emergency, that reacting quickly, being decisive, listening to experts, those are all things that I had learned through the course of my personal life and my business life.”

* Yesterday, Pritzker made several campaign stops highlighting early voting…

In Springfield, he was joined by Nikki Budzinski, the Democratic nominee for the 13th Congressional District, and state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield. […]

There, Pritzker touted policy achievements such as raising the minimum wage while vowing to protect abortion rights and declaring his support for the “workers rights amendment.”

But, above all else, the message of the day was: every day up to Nov. 8 is Election Day. […]

Pritzker signed several laws last year that expand early voting and curbside voting, making ballot dropboxes — a pandemic-era innovation — a permanent feature and allowing voters to permanently opt in to vote-by-mail.

* The Tribune on the governor‘s “flurry” of donations to Dem candidates and orgs…

The governor’s largesse comes with early voting getting underway in some parts of the state and as Republican candidates relentlessly hammer their Democratic rivals on crime and an overhaul of the state’s criminal justice system that includes ending cash bail on Jan. 1. […]

The governor “does not take the threat of Republican extremism lightly and is committed to supporting candidates who will fight for our shared Democratic values at every level of government,” Edelstein said in a statement.

Along with Pritzker’s $1 million, the Giannoulias campaign on Thursday reported $769,000 in additional contributions from labor unions, auto dealers and other supporters. That’s on top of more than $1.3 million in large-dollar contributions that campaign had previously reported since July 1.

Giannoulias spent more than $5.2 million in the first half of the year to win the primary and came into the general election campaign with more than $773,000 cash on hand in his campaign fund, state campaign finance records show.

* Politico…

Former Gov. Jim Edgar had thoughts on Pritzker’s big donations: “For the party of the rich, we sure don’t show it sometimes. And the party of the Democrats, who are supposed to be the working man, they seem to have all the money,” Edgar said Thursday in Springfield after Pritzker made donations to Democrats up and down the ballot — including $1 million to secretary for state candidate Alexi Giannoulias. Edgar has endorsed Dan Brady, the Republican in the race.

* WGLT…

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said he’s open to tweaking the Safe-T Act that will do away with the cash bail system in the state starting in January.

Pritzker’s Republican opponent, Darren Bailey, claims the law will let people out of jail who should be kept behind bars. During a stop in Bloomington on Thursday, Pritzker said that is not the case.

“The Safe-T Act is about keeping people safe all across our state, keeping murderers, rapists, and domestic abusers in jail, not letting them buy their way out, which is the system that we had,” said Pritzker. […]

On the flip side, the governor said moms who shoplift should not be kept locked up for months on end just because they can’t afford a few hundred dollars in bond. Pritzker said the legislation is not done.

“You know Republicans act like they don’t vote for amendments to bills. But they voted for thousands of amendments to existing bills and we’re always willing to consider changes to a bill that need to be made,” said Pritzker.