Democrats Preach Unity, Strength at State Fair
Governor JB Pritzker takes the stage Wednesday at the Governor’s Day rally at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
Democrats took over the Illinois State Fair Wednesday for Governor’s Day, expressing the utmost confidence ahead of a November General Election where they already hold all of the statewide constitutional offices, supermajorities in the General Assembly, and face, in many cases, nominal Republican opposition in November.
It was a State Fair political day that, in many ways, felt like going through the motions.
More than 3,000 Democrats, an all time crowd, gathered for the Illinois Democrat County Chair’s brunch at the BOS Center downtown Wednesday morning, headlined by progressive Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and was essentially a conduit to honor retiring U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.
Durbin, the 81-year-old who will complete his fifth term in the Senate before leaving the chamber in January, summed up his time in politics referencing an old line by Arizona politician Morris Udall.
“Politics is in my bloodstream, and as Morris Udall once said, ‘If you have politics in your bloodstream, only embalming fluid will replace it.”
One consistent out of most Democrats Wednesday was mostly ignoring their General Election Republican opponents, highlighting Democrats are more interested in running against President Donald Trump in November than they are even mentioning the names of their Republican opponents.
Governor JB Pritzker mentioned his opponent, former Sen. Darren Bailey by name a couple of times, launching most of his jabs at Trump.
“At a time when Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans and his entire freak show are demonstrating how the government can be distorted to satisfy the greed of the wealthy and the greed of Donald Trump’s own pockets, while robbing working families blind, Illinois Democrats are showing what it means to truly fight for the people,” Pritzker said at the Governor’s Day rally on the Director’s Lawn at the State Fairgrounds.
“This is the [federal] government that Darren Bailey rooted for,” Pritzker said. “This is the vision that he and his Illinois Republicans want to impose on working families across Illinois. I think it’s instructive for us to put side-by-side two visions of Illinois.”
Pritzker spoke for the first time since infusing his campaign with $65 million in personal dollars for the final stretch, far outpacing the fundraising totals of Bailey and independent candidate Collin Corbett.
Pritzker’s total personal contributions to his campaign since 2017 now total around $439 million.
“I love how you take multiple years and put it all together,” Pritzker quipped after we asked the question. “What you’re saying is the fact that I don’t take special interest money is a negative for the people of Illinois? I think that’s wrong. You don’t want special interests buying politicians.”
But asked if he was a politician buying the Governor's office, he responded its an argument media members would like to make, but isn’t true."
“It’s about values. It’s about fighting for working families. I have proven for 8 years that I have done that time and time again,” he said.
Chicago reporters were focused on the ongoing ethics scandals among House Democrats. House Speaker Chris Welch, who attended Springfield fundraisers Tuesday, did not attend any State Fair activities on Wednesday.
