‘I’m going to fight like hell’: Pritzker inches toward 2028 bid at Sharpton’s NAN event

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker refused to rule out a 2028 presidential bid Thursday as he worked to strengthen his standing with Black voters, accusing President Trump of using immigration enforcement as a weapon against people of color and outlining what he called a “livability” agenda for working families.

At a National Action Network event in New York City hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton, Mr. Pritzker stopped short of announcing a campaign but laid out a platformlike set of priorities: raising the federal minimum wage to $25 an hour, expanding voting rights and advancing what he called “Agenda 48” for the next president — whom he predicted would be a Democrat.

“First of all, I am running for reelection as governor right now,” the 61-year-old Democrat told Mr. Sharpton when pressed on a White House run, while stressing that his first obligation remained to Illinois. “I have been involved in every presidential election since I was an adult and able to vote … and I am going to be more involved than ever before in 2028 because we can’t lose.”

He added, “I am going to fight like hell to elect a Democrat in 2028.”

Mr. Pritzker is among a number of possible 2028 contenders who have appeared — or will show up — at the four-day Sharpton gathering.

The group includes former Vice President Kamala Harris, ex-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Mr. Pritzker’s appearance was his latest effort to cast himself as a leading anti‑Trump voice.

He has clashed with the president over the threat to send National Guard troops to Chicago and called for his removal from office last fall over that dispute. The governor renewed the ouster call this week over the Iran war.

Earlier this year, Mr. Pritzker traveled to New Hampshire, where he urged mass protests against the administration, declaring, “These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace,” a line that drew a sharp rebuke from senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller and fresh speculation about the governor’s ambitions.

On Thursday, Mr. Pritzker aimed some of his sharpest criticism at the administration’s immigration crackdown, arguing that federal raids in Chicago were never just about deportation.

“It’s this whole administration’s view about people of color,” he said, pointing out that the Trump Cabinet includes one Black member.

Mr. Pritzker drew loud applause praising his lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, who won the Democratic nomination for the Senate this week. He called her the “absolute best person for the job” and highlighted her work on Black maternal mortality, noting that Black women die at three times the rate of white women from pregnancy‑related causes.

He also noted that Illinois is poised to become the first state to elect two Black women to the Senate, with Ms. Stratton set to join Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

Mr. Pritzker also invoked the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, calling his death an almost incomprehensible loss at a moment when civil rights are under strain. “My whole life, Jesse Jackson has been a beacon of fighting for voting rights and civil rights,” he said, adding that the country needs his activist spirit “now more than ever.”

Looking ahead to the 2026 midterms, Mr. Pritzker urged Democrats to lead with kitchen‑table economics rather than react to Mr. Trump or get hung up on concerns about protecting democracy, which are salient, but not as important as the day-to-day challenges facing working Americans.

“What people are thinking about at their doors is, ’I can’t pay my electric bill, I can’t pay my rent, I can’t afford to send my kid to community college or college, I can’t afford to retire,” he said.

He called the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour — about $14,000 a year for a full‑time worker — a glaring failure of Democratic messaging, arguing that 80% of Americans support a hike, yet the party has not been “really loud” about it.

“Why is our party not loud, I mean really loud, about raising the minimum wage?” he said.