PORTLAND, Maine — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker didn’t not rule out a 2024 run for the Democratic presidential nomination throughout a quick interview at a convention on Thursday.
Requested about renewed dialog over whether or not President Joe Biden ought to stay the Democrats’ standard-bearer forward of the 2024 election, Pritzker wouldn’t rule out operating if Biden didn’t. He was pondering extra about his political future in Illinois.
“I’m targeted alone [2022] reelection,” Pritzker mentioned.
Pritzker, a billionaire whose household owns the Hyatt resort chain, was in Maine for the Nationwide Governors Affiliation’s annual summer time assembly. He spoke to the Bangor Day by day Information after taking part in a session on tourism with different governors, together with Maine Gov. Janet Mills.
Pritzker clinched the Democratic nominee for governor late final month in a race that’s already squaring as much as be one of the vital costly gubernatorial races ever, largely due to the incumbent’s fortune. However the race doesn’t look notably aggressive, with FiveThirtyEight giving Pritzker a 99 % probability of beating Republican state lawmaker Darren Bailey.
The Illinois governor has stoked hypothesis of a possible White Home run, notably after a June trek to New Hampshire for a speech to Democrats within the first-in-the-nation main state. Pritzker, who campaigned for Mills in her race with former Republican Gov. Paul LePage on that journey, mentioned the Maine governor has “completed an incredible job.”
“She’s standing up for reproductive rights, she’s standing up for particular person rights,” Pritzker mentioned. “And albeit, individuals who have been overlooked and left behind — middle-class households who want somebody on their facet.”
Mills, listening to the reward whereas strolling by, instructed Pritzker to “say that somewhat louder” whereas laughing.
Pritzker has additionally been open in his assist of stricter gun legal guidelines after a shooter opened fireplace on a July 4 parade crowd in Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, killing seven and injuring.
The form of firepower accessible to the Highland Park shooter, who has been charged with a number of counts of homicide, shouldn’t be available, Pritzker mentioned. The shooter had three 30-round magazines, permitting him to rapidly discharge 83 pictures in lower than a minute, Pritzker famous whereas imitating a gun reloading.
“This isn’t one thing that we have to have authorized in the US, apart from maybe for the navy or the police,” Pritzker mentioned.
