Copyright Chicago Tribune
Gov. JB Pritzker credited Democratic successes in Tuesday’s elections across the country to candidates’ focus on affordability as well as voters who used their ballots to rebuke Republican President Donald Trump’s second-term leadership. The Democratic governor, a vocal Trump critic who is pursuing a third term next year as well as a potential 2028 White House bid, also indicated that any effort to redraw Illinois’ congressional districts to counter gerrymandering pushed by the president in GOP-led states may depend on whether Indiana takes action on redistricting. Speaking to reporters during stops at three downstate events, Pritzker cited the success of Democratic candidates who “didn’t just talk about” affordability but “actually acted upon it, proposed things, and are getting things done.” He also said Democratic wins at the ballot box in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, California, and other states were a reaction to the president’s failure to curb price increases and to his launching immigration enforcement raids. “Something happened (Tuesday) that is, I think, remarkable and I think it was a reaction in part to what’s happening from Washington, D.C., and the kind of oppression that’s being put down on the states, both economically and otherwise. People’s rights are being taken away. People’s programs that they rely upon are being taken away,” Pritzker said in Carbondale. “I think the reaction in the elections was about people understanding that government does play an important role and that Donald Trump is acting like the leader of an authoritarian regime who does not care about the people that he is supposed to be representing and leading,” he said. Pritzker said he believes it “bodes well for the ’26 elections, when we Democrats need desperately to win one or the other or both houses of Congress.” Pritzker also cited the federal government shutdown as a voting mobilizer, including the uncertain fate of federal nutrition program funding and federal insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Despite court orders to fund SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Trump has said the program should not be funded until Democrats agree to reopen the federal government. Democrats also have said they will not support a Republican government funding measure unless it includes Obamacare subsidies. “The president of the United States is refusing to reopen the government because he doesn’t want people to get affordable health care, and by not reopening the government, he’s also taking away food support for people,” Pritzker said. “So health care and food are disappearing because this president, frankly, doesn’t want to talk to anybody. He thinks we all should just do whatever he says, even if it’s bad for people across the country,” Pritzker said, saying the state would return to court if Trump refuses to fully fund SNAP benefits, which amount to $360 million a month in Illinois. California voters on Tuesday, by a near 2-to-1 ratio, overwhelmingly backed an initiative that will allow Democrats to redraw that state’s congressional boundaries and likely flip five Republican-held seats. The move was to counter the Trump-backed push that led Texas Republicans to draw districts aimed at mapping out five Democrats in that state. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, in hailing the passage of the initiative, mentioned Illinois and other Democratic-led states that he said should be taking similar action on redistricting to counter Republican moves. U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, leader of the Democratic minority in the House, urged Illinois Democrats without success to act on redistricting during the recently adjourned fall legislative session. Illinois Democrats successfully wrung 14 Democratic seats out of 17 districts under the post-2020 federal census map and could endanger that success by trying to carve out a 15th district. A new redistricting plan for the 2026 midterm elections also could face several legal hurdles, particularly since candidates in the March 17 primary have already filed petitions to appear on the ballot. “An awful lot of people want us to consider redistricting and I have to say we’re watching what Indiana does. You know, we’ve been looking at pairing with different states,” Pritzker told reporters in Alton. “We don’t think that this is a good idea, the redistricting across the country, not a good idea. But unfortunately, Donald Trump is trying to cheat,” he said. “So we’re watching what Indiana does. We may have to react to that. It’s certainly something that people have considered here and the legislature has considered here, but we’ll have to see what happens.”
