“It seems crazy, but it’s true that when I serve out the
end of this second term, I will be the longest-serving Democratic governor in
the history of Illinois,” Gov. JB Pritzker said last month during the
Democratic National Convention.
I looked it up and it’s true.
Pat Quinn served about six years as governor, replacing
Rod Blagojevich, who also did six years before doing time in prison. Dan Walker
served four years before he also went to prison. Otto Kerner left before the
end of his second term to become a federal judge, then went to prison. Sam
Shapiro filled out the remainder of that term. Adlai Stevenson did one term and
then ran for president twice. Henry Horner died before the end of his second
term, which John Stelle completed. Edward Dunne, John Peter Altgeld and Joel
Matteson were all one-termers. Augustus French served seven years because of a
change in the new state constitution. The five Democrats before that served one
term or less. The state’s earliest governors were members of the
Democratic-Republican or Republican-Democratic parties. None served more than
four years.
What people wanted to know last month, though, was
whether Pritzker wants to try for a third term in two years.
I’m told that one priority for a potential third term
could be finally addressing why Illinois has historically lagged the nation in
employment. The state’s unemployment rate in July was 5.2%, which is widely
considered to be “full employment” but was still almost a point higher than the
national average. And that’s consistent with history. In a recent interview
with me, Pritzker pointed to the state’s relatively high labor force
participation rate as a reason, but our participation rate really isn’t that
much different than lots of other states that have lower unemployment rates.
The governor talked about a third term during a state
delegates’ convention breakfast, but cautioned his audience that his wife, MK,
was his “term limit,” explaining that if people want him to run again, they’ll
first have to convince her.
MK grew up in a political household. Her father was chief
of staff to South Dakota Gov. Richard Kneip and then ran unsuccessfully for the
U.S. Senate. She was a U.S. Senate staffer in DC when she met the future
governor. This stuff is in her blood.
Mrs. Pritzker has kept a fairly low profile the past six
years, fiercely guarding her family’s privacy, particularly during the
pandemic. She’s probably best known for throwing huge, swanky parties
(including convention-week’s Salt Shed soiree featuring John Legend) and for
finishing the task of decorating the governor’s mansion and publishing a book
about the official residence.
But she made a rare appearance at a bill signing event
this summer to talk about her involvement with incarcerated women. The bill her
spouse signed into law provides free identification cards for newly released
inmates. Mrs. Pritzker took up the cause of incarcerated women at the beginning
of the Pritzker administration.
MK helped set up an ID pilot program at Logan
Correctional Center back in 2020, and told reporters at the event that she’d
visited women’s prisons more than a dozen times since Gov. Pritzker was sworn
in. She said her focus since her first prison visit in January of 2019, “has
been on ensuring incarcerated Illinoisans are treated with respect and dignity,
and that they are given a real opportunity to rehabilitate and return to
post-incarceration life with a chance at avoiding recidivism and making
positive change.”
There are no current signs that Mrs. Pritzker is ready to
move on to private life. And her spouse clearly appears to be enjoying his
current job, regardless of what just happened to his national ambitions with
Vice President Kamala Harris’ elevation to presidential nominee.
So, does MK want to move back to Washington, D.C., if Harris
wins and if Gov. Pritzker is offered a Cabinet position? Or would she want to continue
her work here in Illinois? And would Gov. Pritzker himself be happy working for
someone else after years of leading a large state? Or does she just want it all
to end?
Those are a lot of ifs, starting with Harris’ election
and then an actual Pritzker appointment and if he’d want it. I’ve gone back and
forth on this. I thought for a while that I had a good handle on it, but now
I’m not so sure.
Let’s see what their options look like in a few months.
