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* Gov. Pritzker was asked today about his reaction to yesterday’s Chicago election and if he was surprised by Mayor Lightfoot’s loss…
First of all, I watched, very interested to see how it would come out. It’s very close, as you know, and no candidate got 50 percent of the vote or even all that close to 50 percent.
Primaries are messy, and they don’t usually illustrate the candidates’ positions on the issues all that well. And so I think it’ll be important for the candidates that made it through that primary process, and now in the runoff, to articulate their positions and the contrast between their views. And honestly, the voters of Chicago, just like the voters of the rest of the state when they vote, deserve no less than understanding where the candidates really fit. And it allows the voters to make decisions about where they will end up. I’m a Chicago voter, so I’m going to be listening intently to what they have to say. And I look forward to watching and listening to the campaign play out.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* Asked about his endorsement…
Yeah, I’ll be listening and watching. Again, I think they have to articulate more than just you know, in a messy primary with nine candidates. It’s a cacophony, I think, for most people.
And so I do think they’re gonna have to articulate and direct their message. What is their primary message? And it’s going to be, you know, focused on what are they going to do about education? What are they going to do about health care? What are they going to do about public safety? What are they going to do about creating jobs? Those are all important things that I don’t think have been fully fleshed out by either one of those candidates.
* Asked who he voted for yesterday…
[Laughs] As you know, it’s a private endeavor when you go into the voting booth.
…Adding… Agree that this would’ve been a better question…
Pritzker gets asked who he voted for today. A more fun question to ask, if you're tossing out Qs he's going to dodge: "Why do you think your precinct voted for Vallas?" https://t.co/7tHqHiIb0y pic.twitter.com/BJX3Ef1kRb
— Zoe Galland (@zoegalland) March 1, 2023
* Asked why Chicago is so important for his administration…
Oh, well, my goodness. First of all, it’s important to the people of Chicago who the mayor of Chicago is, just as a voter, I’ll say that’s important to me. But as governor, it’s very important. Chicago is an important part of our state. It’s an economic engine of the state, awful large population in Chicago, that that are constituents of mine, just as they are of the new mayor.
And I think very importantly, and this is something that I hope you’ll keep in mind. I, as you, ask questions, as you no doubt do, about endorsements. Look, the Governor and the Mayor of the City of Chicago have to be able to work together. We saw for years, I think, under Rahm Emanuel and Bruce Rauner, where they didn’t, and that wasn’t good for the state or for the city of Chicago. And so I think I keep that in mind every day when I think about what I say, what I do, who I endorse, you know, how is that relationship affected by the things that I do And I hope they’ll keep that in mind as well.
* “Where do you think did Mayor Lightfoot went wrong?”…
Oh, I, you know, there’s a lot of post mortem I’m sure to come. I would just say it is hard to hold a position like the mayor of Chicago. And it was four hard years, no doubt about it. And she put in great public service. Anybody that’s willing to sacrifice like that, I think I want to congratulate on their willingness to do so.
Thoughts?
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 12:42 pm
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Even if you don’t agree with all of Pritzker’s policies, he (and his staff) know the right things to say.
Comment by Homebody Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 12:49 pm
Johnson will definitely be courting him. Vallas…maybe not so much.
Comment by NIU Grad Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 12:54 pm
Homebody, same thing I was thinking. And LL was not nice (s/) to Pritzker. But if she would’ve ever taken the high road like this she may be in the run-off.
Comment by James the Intolerant Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 12:55 pm
To that last question. Well I don’t recall him making an endorsement in the mayoral race. I see his response as a dodge, in this case a good dodge. Will he take a position in the runoff?
Comment by Levois Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 12:55 pm
Does anybody think JB will really endorse the closeted Republican?
Comment by Jerry Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 12:57 pm
@NIU Grad, he could lose a solid chunk of his base if he courted a Pritzker endorsement!
Comment by The Truth Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 12:58 pm
“Vallas…maybe not so much.”
That would be series malpractice. If Vallas is indeed a democrat, not seeking the endorsement of a fairly popular democratic governor is insane.
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:03 pm
“Johnson will definitely be courting him.”
Same Johnson that wants to tax all the suburbanites? Yeah, good luck getting the Govs endorsement with that position.
Comment by 1st Ward Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:04 pm
The Gov won 83 percent in Chicago. They should all be banging down his door
Comment by welllllllll Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:08 pm
Lori and JB both had four really hard years. One handily won re-election. The other got trounced. One has an approval rating above 60%. The other just got 17% of the vote. So, yea, she put in public service, but no, she didn’t put in great public service. She had a golden opportunity and completely squandered it through a combination of arrogance and incompetence. I have no sympathy for the disaster that was the Lightfoot era. And I say this as someone who was one of her biggest supporters four years ago. Think she’ll come out of this chastened and realize that she needs to learn to listen? Or will she blame everyone but herself. I know where my money is.
Comment by New Day Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:09 pm
Vallas is whoever he needs to be…from moment to moment.
Comment by Dotnonymous Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:17 pm
so interesting that at this same time the Gov is working hard to make sure that the AWAKE types don’t get elected to suburban school boards.
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:18 pm
Great answer by Pritzker. “Why haven’t I endorse anyone? That’s not my fault candidates haven’t been clear about what they stand for.”
Bailey is already starting the not-so subtle nods to Vallas: https://twitter.com/DarrenBaileyIL/status/1630764855115358209
Vallas is just hoping Bailey doesn’t run his “life-long democrat” persona he is trying to build.
Comment by twowaystreet Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:18 pm
The best thing that can happen for Paul Vallas is John Catanzara losing his re-election as FOP chief.
This race will be a contest between the establishment Democrats and Democratic Socialists.
Calling Vallas a Republican may actually help him.
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:23 pm
Vallas, the more transparent he becomes, the more the FOP, angry white, over 50 crowd won’t want Vallas to be endorsed by Pritzker.
Johnson, the more transparent he becomes, like going on ridiculous radio shows and saying ridiculous things, the less likely Pritzker wants to endorse
Kind of a nice place to be for Pritzker.
“Say more so I can do less and stay away”
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:23 pm
My two cents. Brandon with the right horse trading with some of the also rans can put together a winning coalition. He can get more union support from Lightfoot’s unions that endorsed her. Jamal’s constituency would be a natural for Brandon.
ANYTHING from Chuy is problematic because of long standing tensions. My hope is that Chuy recognizes that it is up to him to publicly pledge to work for fellow progressive Brandon and hope that his constituency follows suit.
Comment by SouthSideGT Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:23 pm
==Johnson will definitely be courting him. Vallas…maybe not so much.==
Vallas would be stupid to not work on JB. He probably can’t get his endorsement, but he needs to play for JB keeping silent. Vallas can’t let Johnson become “The Democrat” in the race.
Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:28 pm
A Pritzker endorsement for either candidate would be a good “get.” But there’s little upside for Pritzker in weighing in particularly given what I expect to be a campaign with clear contrasts and a close outcome.
Comment by Pundent Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:36 pm
Avuncular Pritzker giving political advice to the hopefuls. He is very gracious. I was impressed by how gracious he was in his texts to the mayor as well (in the leak).
I think Pritzker is just, in general, a nice guy, most of the time.
Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:38 pm
Pritzker’s endorsement of Vallas would make Catanzara madder…if possible?
Comment by Dotnonymous Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:45 pm
Johnson needs more than just JB’s endorsement, he needs him to cut a 7 figure check and convince the state and county Democratic parties to endorse him.
Comment by Lakeview Lou Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:47 pm
Never in my life have I been more interested in who becomes Mayor of Chicago in the event that a mayor steps down or is indicted, or whatever mercy may save the city from this rate.
Lori Lightfoot had a tough job. The voters might have still made it a race between two of the worst choices, but that’s still Lightfoot’s fault.
Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:49 pm
Vallas is kinda like Obama in 2008.
Wait. Hear me out.
In ‘08, there were a lot people on the left/far left that held up Obama as someone flirting with being a Democratic Socialist, even though he was communicating over and over he was a center left guy. A bunch of folks on the far left were disappointed with him for not being the president he never promised to be. They just saw what they wanted to see.
With Vallas, you have a bunch of people from the center-right to the far right that see him as their guy, even though he keeps saying over and over “I am a life long Democrat. I support LGBTQ+ rights. I support abortion access. I support the assault weapons ban.” He has definitely drifted further right than he was when he ran for mayor last time around, but folks that think he will be this Republican mayor are only seeing what they want to see. He will probably be a less successful Rahm.
Comment by Montrose Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 1:49 pm
any comments from electeds, like the Gov, about AWAKE and schools and LGBTQ are going to be very useful.
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:02 pm
What Pundent said, where’s the upside in weighing in on this runoff? You’re going to needlessly (irk) around 45% of Chicago active voters either way.
Comment by ChicagoBars Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:11 pm
@New Day
There is no “I” in “Mayor” but there is in “Lori” (and “Lightfoot”).
Comment by SouthSideGT Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:11 pm
This is basically a CTU vs. FOP election.
Comment by Victor Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:14 pm
===CTU vs. FOP===
It’s about if Vallas is with “Police” or Catanzara
There’s a difference, subtle or not.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:18 pm
If Lori could handle politically charged questions and situations as deftly as JB did there, she wouldn’t be packing up her office right now.
Comment by Roman Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:19 pm
==This is basically a CTU vs. FOP election.==
That would be very good news for Johnson, but I think Vallas is going to add significant other support.
Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:19 pm
JB endorsed many Chicago Aldermen this election cycle. JB wasn’t shy about financial supporting Minnesota’s recent Democratic party slate. But, he’s shy on who wants to be Mayor of Chicago. A town he lives in. Go figure…
Comment by Steve Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:23 pm
Pritzker as proved to be pretty savy when it comes to jumping or not jumping into elections.
Lightfoot was her own worst enemy. She has an easy ally in Pritzker but killed that chance early, like she did with most allies.
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:23 pm
“The voters might have still made it a race between two of the worst choices, but that’s still Lightfoot’s fault.”
Let’s not blame the voters for the voting system. Choose-only-one voting in a field with 9 candidates is essentially guaranteed to result in vote splitting. Now if Chicago used approval voting to let voters vote for all candidates they support, the election would have looked a whole lot different and the candidates advancing to the runoff would probably have been different.
Comment by Techie Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:24 pm
===But, he’s shy on who wants to be Mayor of Chicago===
Has either asked for an endorsement?
Seems as the alderman candidates asked, why do you care about Minnesota if your feign concern is about Chicago.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:26 pm
- Steve -
Would you be pleased if Bailey, unsolicitedly, endorsed Vallas?
The press should ask Pritzker. If there’s an answer “to whom” Pritzker would’ve given it, likely after being asked.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:30 pm
Pardon me, please do not frame the upcoming run-off as CTU V FOP or any other entity. This battle will be for the “soul” of the city, and Vallas doesn’t appear to have a sincere bone in his body. We can look to Johnson’s organizing past to find some of his truths, but we really don’t know what he brings to the table well enough yet. Finally, both men have done very little to elevate issues of concern to women.
Let’s hear policy.
Comment by education first Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:50 pm
Bailey’s opinion of the Chicago mayor’s race is not worth two cents. An endorsement from Bailey is worthless as he labeled Chicago a hellhole.
Bailey is thirsty.
Comment by Rudy’s teeth Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 2:57 pm
=An endorsement from Bailey is worthless as he labeled Chicago a hellhole.=
Brandon Johnson might disagree on how worthless this is. Used correctly it could be worth a lot.
Comment by Pundent Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 3:03 pm
Vallas should be all over that Bailey endorsement. They should appear together as often as possible. Same goes for Catanzara. You know just the regular everyday guys who care about all the citizens of Chicago. On the flip side I think Johnson should take a photograph of the 3 of them in their group political bearhug under the caption saying ; Really ?
Comment by Stormsw7706 Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 3:29 pm
==But, he’s shy on who wants to be Mayor of Chicago==
He has to work with the person. So I don’t see it as that big of a deal if he doesn’t end up endorsing anyone.
Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 3:59 pm
I’d just like to hear what Vallas’ failproof policy proposals are that will make Chicago the safest big city in the nation. If I was a Chicagoan, I’d be looking for farm boots to wear when he speaks.
Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 4:23 pm
I don’t know ‘the soul’ of either candidate. People do tend to believe what they want to about candidates, without really knowing them. I want both to clarify their policy positions on real problems for the city. And I’d like some sense of who are the people who will help them govern in office. I remember ‘the council wars’ of the early 1980s. Not good for the city.
Comment by Beaverbrook Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 4:24 pm
Johnson’s(the CTUcandidate)position on Charter schools and school choice in general will hurt him with a substantial number of minority families who are fed up with CPS. Like it or not- school choice is popular particularly with both Blacks and Hispanics. Anyone not thinking that to be true- call down to that candidate who lost to DeSantis in 2018. School choice drove enough Black voters to DeSantis to allow him to eke out a victory in what was a horrendous year for R’s. Many people believe CTU already has too much influence so it’s going to be hard to get them to essentially vote for CTU to run City Hall
Comment by Sue Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 4:25 pm
===Like it or not- school choice is popular particularly with both Blacks and Hispanics. Anyone not thinking that to be true- call down to that candidate who lost to DeSantis in 2018. School choice drove enough Black voters to DeSantis to allow him to eke out a victory in what was a horrendous year for R’s.===
First, let’s try to keep it “Chicago Centric”, and your joy about DeSantis is a lil creepy given Vallas’ coziness to the Chicago FOP chief Catanzara…
===Many people believe===
Speak for yourself or cite polling.
Every time you do things like this I’m reminded that you said you were done commenting here anymore, and yet…
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 4:30 pm
A great many didn’t vote for either Vallas or Johnson. Pritzker keeping out of it should not be very controversial. Endorsing Vallas would stain his work for racial and social equity, and in direct contradiction to his nationally prominent stance against the right wing culture war.
Comment by Grandson of Man Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 4:38 pm
I think Governor Pritzker’s remarks were well chosen. He will have to work with whomever is ultimately elected mayor of Chicago and it makes good sense to keep his cards hidden.
Comment by Manchester Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 5:54 pm
? for Vallas, will you spend every Sunday morning outside of the City?
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Mar 1, 23 @ 6:00 pm
Like every choice he makes, JB will see how the political wind blows before he takes a stand. He’ll give an 11th hour endorsement and big chunk of change to one of them when he figures out whether or not it will benefit him personally. Then he can be the big hero who was the deciding factor in the big winner’s victory. Rah Rah for JB, we should elect him President. /s
They’ll both have their hands out for JB’s money. Most Democrats do, all over the state, and it’s gross. He owns all of them.
Comment by Suburban Onlooker Thursday, Mar 2, 23 @ 8:19 am