Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Wednesday that "right-thinking Republicans" will likely vote for Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections, arguing that President Donald Trump has given the opposition so much to work with that even GOP voters will abandon their party at the ballot box.
The two-term Illinois Democrat did not name specific Republicans he expects to cross over, and it is not yet known which races his prediction is aimed at. His office did not respond publicly to a request for clarification before publication.
The comment lands as both parties sprint toward the midterms, with control of Congress on the line. Trump has been holding rallies across the country in the final stretch, and political groups aligned with the president have spent heavily to defend Republican majorities. Pritzker's claim that "right-thinking" Republicans will defect suggests Democrats see an opening with disaffected GOP voters — a pitch that will be tested in competitive districts where moderate Republicans and independents decide outcomes.
Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune and a prominent Democratic donor, has been a frequent critic of the president. His appearance on MS NOW — the outlet formerly known as MSNBC — put him in friendly territory, where he framed the midterms as a referendum on Trump rather than on Democratic policies.
A post on Instagram this week referenced Pritzker "accusing the Trump" administration, though the caption as indexed did not include the full text of his remarks. The post is one of several social media clips circulating from the interview.
Republicans have pushed back on the idea that their voters will abandon the party. Trump remains deeply popular with the GOP base, and his approval among Republicans has stayed high even as his overall numbers have sagged. Whether that translates into turnout is the question that will decide dozens of House and Senate races.
The Illinois governor's own state offers a counterpoint. Illinois has been run by Democrats for years, and Republicans have pointed to its fiscal troubles, population loss and corruption scandals — including a newly reported investigation into $1.4 million in extra pay at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services — as evidence that Democratic governance is the problem, not the solution. The state's top human resources official at DCFS approved the extra pay that state rules did not allow, including nearly $52,000 for herself, according to an investigation by the state Office of the Executive Inspector General first reported by The Illinoize. The official, Kimberly Bates, resigned after the investigation and told The Illinoize she had continued a practice that existed before she was hired.
Pritzker's remarks also come as Trump's approval ratings sit low enough that some analysts warn they could sink Republican candidates. A report from Alabama Daily News noted that Trump has organized even small details of the Republican midterm convention and is finishing the cycle with a cross-country blitz of rallies, a gamble that his personal appeal can overcome headwinds on energy prices, the cost of living and other issues.
"I don't think there's anybody that wants Donald Trump out there at these rallies more than Democratic candidates," Jessica Mackler, president of EMILY's List, told Alabama Daily News.
For everyday Americans, the stakes are concrete: control of Congress determines whether Trump's agenda — mass deportation, tariffs, deregulation, energy dominance — advances or stalls. Pritzker is betting that enough Republicans will choose divided government over unified Republican rule. Trump is betting his base will show up anyway.
Our Take
JB Pritzker calling Republicans who vote Democrat "right-thinking" is a tell. The governor of a state that has been a one-party Democratic laboratory for decades — with the fiscal wreckage and the DCFS pay scandal to show for it — is now lecturing GOP voters about judgment. That takes chutzpah.
Here's what Pritzker is really saying: he believes the midterms are a referendum on Trump, not on the cost of living, not on the border, not on the chaos in Democratic-run cities. He wants Republicans to stay home or cross over so Democrats can retake Congress and grind the Trump agenda to a halt. It's a familiar playbook — demonize Trump, promise to "restore norms," then govern like the administrative state never left.
But Pritzker isn't wrong that Trump gives the opposition material. The president's approval numbers are soft, and midterms are historically brutal for the party in power. The question is whether "right-thinking Republicans" — the ones Pritzker is counting on — actually exist in the numbers he thinks. Trump's base has stuck with him through investigations, impeachments and two elections. It's not clear a governor from Illinois, of all places, is the one to peel them away.
Patriots, the midterms are a choice between a president who is fighting for America First and a Democratic Party that wants to undo it. Pritzker just told you exactly what Democrats think of you if you back Trump. Do you prove him right — or do you show up and prove him wrong?
