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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) – Gov. JB Pritzker is vowing to protect people in Illinois from what he believes a second Donald Trump presidency could bring.
“To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,” Priztker (D-Illinois) said in a press conference Thursday. “You come for my people, you come through me.”
As the country prepares for Trump to take over the Oval Office in January, Pritzker promised to protect the state’s progress on issues like abortion rights and immigration.
“Over the years ahead, we’ll do more than just protect against the possible reversion to an agenda that threatens to take us backward,” Pritzker said. “We will continue to advance a positive, productive and inclusive agenda of our own, one that brings opportunity to Illinois and helps uplift the nation as a whole.”
Pritzker said he was surprised by Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I know that there are a lot of women out there this week, especially young women, asking themselves if they will ever get to see a female president, and to them, I want to say, I too am tired of having to explain to my daughter, and to my son too, that eventually the time will come, but not now,” Pritzker said.
But he said he’s willing to work with Trump.
“Donald Trump will be our next president,” Pritzker said. “He won the election, and we must all be willing to work together for the common good. In the months ahead, we should all be focused on the peaceful transition of power, even if Donald Trump didn’t afford that to his successor.”
Meanwhile, Illinois Republicans have celebrated Trump’s victory.
“This morning marks a brighter future for our nation and our state,” Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi said in a statement Wednesday. “President Trump’s administration brought us prosperity 4 years ago and will do so again by securing our border, bringing down the cost of living for families, and protecting our individual liberties.”
Congressman Mike Bost (R, IL-12) called the president-elect’s win a “political comeback for the ages.”
“The American people are desperate for fearless leadership, secure borders, a strong economy, and an end to the woke nonsense,” Bost said in a statement. “I’m confident that President-Elect Donald Trump will deliver on all fronts.”
Local Republicans believe Trump focused more on the issues than Harris.
“For the last couple of months, Donald Trump was talking about issues, what he wanted to do and what he didn’t want to do, and I think what we saw from the other side was just more negativity on Trump itself, never clearly to me articulating why she wanted to be president,” Brad Carlson, a GOP consultant and Springfield Ward 7 Alderman, said.
During the presidential campaign, Pritzker was considered a potential vice presidential pick for Harris. His name has also been floated as a potential candidate for president in 2028.
But when asked Thursday if he would run for the White House or for re-election as governor, he said he had nothing to announce.
“The work that I do now as governor is work that I love doing,” Pritzker said. “In the wake of the Tuesday election, I think back to my first days in office and my first two years in office where Donald Trump was president and we had to defend Illinois against an awful lot of policies that the Trump administration was imposing that we needed to make sure we were addressing, and so I think that work is going to continue.”