JB Pritzker made several campaign stops across Illinois over the weekend as the Illinois governor race entered its final stretch, urging voters to send a message to Washington ahead of Election Day. His appearances came as Illinois voters were deciding 17 congressional races, one U.S. senator and contests for city, county and statewide offices.
Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn
Pritzker spoke from the pulpit at Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn, where he tied the election to policy choices in Washington. He told the crowd, "If Democrats can control Congress, they need to go to Washington with an agenda that truly is going to raise the minimum wage and lower prices and make sure we are fighting to protect people’s rights, against Donald Trump," he said.
That same weekend, he also spoke at a Democratic Party gathering in Lincoln Square and joined the Latino community in Cicero to mark Día de los Muertos. At each stop, he pressed the same message: voters in Illinois can shape what happens after Election Day by choosing who represents them.
Julianna Stratton and Chicago
Julianna Stratton presented awards to campaign volunteers and called for unity within the Democratic Party. She told the crowd, "What do you think about electing democrats up and down the ticket across Illinois at every level of government so that we can keep fighting back against the most corrupt president in the history of the United States. Are we gonna do that?"
In Chicago, Jessica Biggs spoke to the congregation at Bright Star Church on the South Side while voters there chose the leaders of Chicago Public Schools for the first time in the city's history, including the school board president. She said, "Chicago, we are doing something absolutely historic in this moment. We are voting for the entire school board for the first time in our history," she said.
Election Day in Illinois
The weekend campaign push landed during a race in which early voting and vote-by-mail ballots are running ahead of local election officials’ expectations, even though midterm elections often draw fewer voters than presidential contests. That means the final stretch is not just about turnout in general; it is about whether Illinois voters keep up the pace they have already set before they go to the polls on Election Day.
For voters, the practical step is simple: choose among the congressional, Senate and local contests already on the ballot, then cast a ballot on Election Day if they have not done so yet. Pritzker’s message was aimed at making those choices feel tied to Washington as well as Illinois.
