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Democrat JB Pretzker, who put the spotlight on his achievements and highlighted his pushback to President Donald Trump’s sweeping and controversial agenda, launched his third term campaign as governor of Illinois on Thursday.
“I’m ready for the upcoming battle,” the governor said he announced his 2026 re-elect bid in Blue State. Pretzker is a billionaire and a member of the Pretzker family, which owns the Hyatt Hotel chain.
“Illinois stands at the heart of the battle: a fight to make life more affordable, a fight to protect our freedom, a fight for common sense,” Pretzker said.
Check out the latest Fox News reports and opinions on JB Pritzker
Democratic government JB Pretzker announced Thursday its 2026 re-election bid for his third term as governor of Illinois. (Governor JB Pritzker via x)
Pretzker became one of the Democratic Party’s most vocal Trump critics in the opening game of the president’s second tour at the White House.
Pointing to Trump and the Republicans who control Congress, Pretzker said, “In Washington, all they are offering is the mix and insanity. Their tariffs hurt farmers and small businesses, stripping them of medical care from seniors and workers’ families, suggesting even greater obstacles than before.”
Hot seat pretzker as Illinois governor faces off against Congressional Republicans on Capitol Hill
“Donald Trump made it clear that nothing would stop him to go his way,” the governor charged. “I’m not going to stand up and I’m trying to get him to demolish everything that’s built in Illinois.”
Pretzker, who started several of his own venture capital and investment startups before running for the office, touted, “We don’t just talk about issues. In Illinois, we’ll solve them.” In another Trump jab, Pretzker said, “The government knows that the government should be a force for good, not a weapon of revenge.”
In his video, during his two tenure, the governor “balanced seven straight budgets and won nine credit upgrades. He raised the minimum wage, limited the cost of insulin, banned assault weapons, protected abortion rights, eliminated state grocery taxes, reduced prescription drug costs, and added thousands of years of work.
But the Republican Governors Association (RGA) doesn’t see it that way.
“People have fled Illinois from hundreds of thousands, and Illinois families continue to suffer from the consequences of ab attacks record of failures at JB Pretzker’s home while spending time on national vanity projects trying to further his own political career,” Kollin Crompton said in a statement in Fox News.
Crompton also accused that “the family opportunities for Illinois families are in the trash, criminal illegal immigrants are more protected than law-abiding citizens, and Pretzker taxes are destroying family budgets.”
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Illinois is the sixth most populous state in the country, with no time limits for statewide officials. However, since GOP Governor Jim Thompson won four terms as governor in the 1970s and 1980s, the state has not had a three-term governor for more than 30 years.
Pretzker is considered a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, and the launch of the 2026 governor’s reelection campaign is not expected to derail him from the possibility that he could run to the White House.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker was interviewed by Fox News Digital at the New Hampshire delegation’s breakfast at the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago on August 22, 2024. (Paul Steinhauser)
He was a well-known campaign agent in the 2024 cycle, similar to former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, after replacing Biden with a Democratic candidate last summer.
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These efforts led the Pritzker to host presidential primary elections for a century in Nevada, battlefield states for general elections and democratic presidential primary states for early voting, and New Hampshire.
Plus, Pretzker returned to New Hampshire this spring to raise more speculation about the potential presidential run in 2028 with headlines for a major state Democrat fundraising dinner.
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in swing state in New Hampshire. He covers campaign trails from coast to coast. ”
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