Patricia Lopez, Columnist

This Billionaire Democrat Is Ready to Brawl

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker thinks voters want a fighter. Can he be that guy?

March 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM UTC

Patricia Lopez is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. She is a former member of the editorial board at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she also worked as a senior political editor and reporter.

Ready to rumble.
Photographer: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

President Donald Trump has not yet completed 100 days in office, but for Democratic governors, the shadow primary for 2028 is underway as they test messages and search for ways to flip the script from the defeatism of their party in Congress.

Into this fray has stepped Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a progressive billionaire pitching his potent combination of working-class issues, sharp business sense and reputation as a good-natured brawler.