In many elections, endorsements of candidates by other elected officials are a sideshow. Often simply the repayment of political favors or a reward for past votes, they’re typically paid relatively light notice by voters.
Not so in 2026. Not with the 2028 presidential election already looming large for Democratic hopefuls as the party desperately seeks a standard-bearer to compete in a post-Trump political landscape.
Gov. JB Pritzker learned the hard way this week that there are significant risks tied to his endorsements. His backing of his lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, in the hotly contested race to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has gotten Pritzker into hot water with a key Democratic Party constituency as the governor himself contemplates a presidential run.
The Congressional Black Caucus this week harshly criticized Pritzker for his involvement in the Senate race. The caucus was acting on behalf of one of its members, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, who is among the three leading contenders in the upcoming primary. CBC Chair Yvette Clarke, a House member from New York, called Pritzker’s monetary and other support for Stratton “beyond frustrating.”
“A sitting governor shouldn’t be heavy-handing this race,” Clarke told Punchbowl News. “Quite frankly, his behavior in this race won’t soon be forgotten by any of us.”
“Quite frankly” is a term that’s often abused by politicians (meaning that whatever they’re saying in the back-and-forth of the moment is anything but frank), but in this case Clarke’s warning indeed is, well, a tad ominous for our governor.
Before the Black Caucus lobbed this bomb at him, Pritzker would have been excused for thinking that his endorsement of a different Black woman would shield him from such criticism. If so, he miscalculated the way many House members think. An open Senate seat is a rare and valuable thing — one might even describe it as “golden,” as Illinois’ felonious former Gov. Rod Blagojevich famously did — and many lawmakers in the lower chamber naturally have ambitions to move up. Our guess is these CBC colleagues of Kelly’s see Pritzker’s involvement as a betrayal of one of their own and easily could picture themselves in a similar scenario.
As a billionaire willing to spend millions on Stratton’s race, Pritzker is more than just a prominent political name lending his verbal support. He’s the equivalent of his own super PAC.
Asked yesterday about the CBC’s stance, Pritzker said, setting off on an unnecessarily tortured rhetorical journey: “I would like a Black woman to represent us in the United States Senate. I just want the best person. She happens to be a Black woman. I think I’ve proven over many years now that I stand with communities of color across this state and with candidates who are running for public office.”
We’re not sure Clarke and other Black lawmakers in D.C. will take kindly to Pritzker’s unspoken dismissal of Kelly in those remarks. Of course, as political junkies in Illinois recall, Pritzker and Kelly have been at odds for years; the governor was instrumental four years ago in pressuring Kelly out as head of Illinois’ Democratic Party. He likes to extol his role in making Stratton the first Black female lieutenant governor in Illinois, but Kelly of course was the first Black female head of the Democratic Party of Illinois. And Pritzker was instrumental in supplanting her with a Hispanic woman, state Rep. Elizabeth “Lisa” Hernandez.
Clarke’s implied threat that Pritzker will pay a future price with CBC members for his role in the Senate contest isn’t the kind of message the governor wants to hear as he considers a run for president. Support from Black voters is critical in many Democratic primaries, and the Black Caucus is an influential player in such campaigns.
For now, there’s no place to go but onward for Pritzker, who’s all in for Stratton. A new ad featuring Pritzker endorsing Stratton is airing as the March 17 primary nears.
As it pertains to his political future on the national stage, he must hope first that she wins the Senate race, thereby affirming the power of his name and campaign cash, and then hope that he can mend fences with the CBC down the road. His wealth may well come in handy for that purpose.
If Stratton loses to her chief rival in the race, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, not only will Pritzker’s political brand take a hit. He will have to face an angry CBC after not one, but two, Black candidates for Senate fell short.
All of the above is to say that in today’s tumultuous Democratic Party, sharply divided still on whether to move left or right in order to better compete nationally after losing twice to the detested Donald Trump, endorsements now are a dangerous game. Pritzker isn’t the only potential presidential hopeful suffering from endorsement blowback. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who appears to be weighing another run for president, saw her stature diminished after U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, her endorsed candidate in Tuesday’s Senate primary in Texas, lost to James Talarico.
Here in Illinois, we’re seeing a phenomenon we hadn’t noticed before — officeholders withdrawing previously made endorsements. First, retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky took back her endorsement of Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, who’s running for Congress in Robin Kelly’s 2nd District, over Miller’s big-money donors. And now, Politico’s Illinois Playbook reports, state Sen. Lakeshia Collins is withdrawing her backing for fellow state Sen. Willie Preston, who’s also running for Congress in the 2nd District, apparently over Preston’s treatment of an organizer who wants state legislative approval of a resolution honoring Palestinian Americans in the district.
In terms of their near-term political fortunes, Democrats are fortunate to have their intense opposition to Trump to unite them. Because if these endorsement misadventures are any indication, the Democratic Party has a long road still to travel to repair its own proxy battles over deeper issues.
And to make a cogent case to the American public in 2028.
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