Chicago City Wire

The News-Gazette recently criticized the AFL-CIO's endorsement of Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker, calling it a political power play and arguing that it has come far too early in the campaign cycle, according to an Illinois Republican Party press release.

“Pritzker has vowed to finance his race for governor out of his own pocket," the editorial says. "Relieved of the responsibility of financing a governor's race, Madigan and his lieutenants can devote all of their considerable financial resources to maintaining their large majorities in the House and Senate. That's why both Republicans and Democrats charged the Pritzker endorsement is just more of the same — a Madigan-engineered power play aimed at serving the speaker's narrow political interests.”

The endorsement pushes Pritzker to the forefront of a race that has yet to truly test its candidate, the editorial argues. Pritzker has made some of his positions clear, including his support for tax increases, but the op-ed notes that as someone who is typically behind the scenes, his campaign performance remains a mystery.

House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) | By illinoislawmakers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7C51rHSd6w, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30435112

“That's why the wise move, the move that best served the interests of Democratic voters as well as the public at large, was to wait and see how the candidates performed,” the editorial says. “But that didn't happen because the powers-that-be in the Democratic Party and their political allies, didn't want it to happen.”