Pritzker noncommittal about future, as 2026 GOP field remains slim

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) — At least one Republican has his eyes on Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s job, but the gubernatorial field remains wide open for both major parties in the state.

Pritzker is still not saying if he’ll run for reelection in 2026 or campaign for the U.S. presidency in 2028.

Reporters asked the governor about his future plans at the Illinois Education Association Representative Assembly in Rosemont Thursday.

“I think you’re asking me if I’m running for reelection, and I have not made a decision or an announcement about that, as you know,” Pritzker said.

The governor assured reporters that he would not be leaving politics.

“I will be in this fight. I have always been, as you know, an active participant in issues that matter to me. The Trump presidency is attacking virtually everything that I believe in,” Pritzker said.

The Illinois governor made numerous campaign appearances on behalf for former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris last year.

No Democrats have said that they would challenge Pritzker in 2026.

DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick announced last month that he would seek the Republican nomination for governor. Others are expected to join the field in the coming months.

Speaking on the Illinois House floor last Thursday, state Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, spoke about the academic struggles of the state’s public-school students and called out COVID-related mandates by Pritzker and other Democrats.

“During this whole quote-unquote pandemic, where our tyrannical governor was shutting down every school, if you would have stepped up and done your job and done the right thing for kids, but you didn’t do it, you didn’t do it because you’re afraid of our tyrannical governor and you’re afraid of the special-interest groups that were punishing our kids and depriving them of a normal childhood, increasing suicide rates,” Wilhour said.

When asked about whether he has political ambitions for governor, Wilhour said he doesn’t know what he’s doing in 2026.

“[B]ut I do know this—I’ll be in the fight for working families because they have been failed by the political class from both parties,” Wilhour told The Center Square. “What I know for sure is JB Pritzker doesn’t care about Illinoisans. He’s focused on his make-believe presidential campaign. What we need is a candidate who will fight for working families, has the courage to fix this state, and won’t cave to the woke mob.”