How JB Pritzker’s midterm investments could pay off in a 2028 White House bid

By Patrick Svitek, CNN

(CNN) — As potential 2028 presidential candidates crisscross the country to campaign in the midterms, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is wielding an advantage that none of the others can match: his massive personal wealth.

The billionaire has funneled nearly $40 million to Democratic candidates and groups in the midterms, donating to everything from the party’s biggest super PACs to state legislative campaigns. As part of that, he’s helping to fund a $20 million effort in the final weeks of the midterms to support Democratic efforts to push deeper into red territory in their bid to capture the House majority.

“This is it,” Pritzker said in an interview. “As far as I’m concerned, focusing on anything other than this election is folly for anybody in politics right now. We must win, we Democrats.”

Pritzker has long been a top donor to the Democratic Party, but his midterm giving has unfolded as he considers joining what is expected to be a crowded 2028 presidential primary — and is serving multiple political purposes.

He’s boosting Democratic campaigns in the first states on the party’s revamped 2028 primary calendar. He’s working to patch up bruised relationships inside the party that he would need for a presidential bid, particularly with the Congressional Black Caucus. And he’s become a unique force in Texas, including by giving more than $1 million to the Democratic nominee for governor, Gina Hinojosa, as her Latino allies plead for more national investment.

Pritzker, who is expected to cruise to victory in his own reelection race next month, said he understands why political observers would try to view his midterm donations as hints at his 2028 plans. But he said that would be “inaccurate” and noted his long history of political giving, estimating he has given to “virtually every state party in the country” throughout his adult life.

“This is not my first rodeo,” he said.

Other potential White House hopefuls are pouring money into the midterms. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are among those with their own nationally focused PACs. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York tapped her huge campaign war chest on Friday to send $1 million to Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

Other potential 2028 candidates, especially Buttigieg, have sought to show their broad appeal by making regular trips to Republican-leaning areas to campaign directly alongside candidates. Pritzker has not done as many of those trips, opting instead for large party gatherings and private fundraisers. And in some races where he has donated to Democrats, their Republicans have sought to turn him into a boogeyman, portraying him as a liberal out-of-state elite.

But Pritzker, who has an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion, is in a financial league of his own.

Democrats whom Pritzker has supported say his money has made a difference in tangible and targeted ways.

In Michigan, a $500,000 donation from Pritzker to the state Democratic Party has helped fund an expansion of organizing statewide that includes 25 offices and 80 people, according to the party’s chairman, Curtis Hertel.

Hertel said he tells potential presidential candidates, “I gotta win in 2026 before I worry about 2028.” The state has a slew of hotly contested statewide races that will determine whether Democrats can remain in charge heading into another presidential election.

“If you care about ’28 and the presidency, investing in Michigan is your best option,” Hertel said.

Hitting the early states

Some of Pritzker’s giving could be especially helpful in states that will vote early in the 2028 Democratic nomination process. Pritzker gave $100,000 to a super PAC that supported Stefany Shaheen in the September primary for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. She prevailed and is poised to be heavily courted in 2028 with New Hampshire going third among early voting states.

And in a somewhat unusual move, Pritzker’s Ready for the Fight PAC recently took over $2.8 million in ad reservations supporting New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez in his competitive reelection race, freeing up money for the House Majority PAC as it tries to play more offense. Like Michigan, New Mexico is a new addition to the early-state window, slated to hold its primary a week after New Hampshire in February 2028.

Democrats who have benefited from Pritzker’s money say he and his aides are rigorous about the investments. One said he is “not just throwing money” at Democratic causes.

“His team looks under the hood, looks for a competent staff, [asks], ‘Can he make a difference?’” the Democrat said.

In Michigan, Hertel said he met with Pritzker shortly after he became chair last year and “walked him through the organizing work that we were doing and what the impact of his dollars could be.” Hertel said they talk “on a regular basis” and he speaks with Pritzker’s staff “a lot.”

In Nevada, Pritzker aides join in on weekly strategy sessions to pass a ballot measure to create a state constitutional right to abortion. Pritzker has donated $650,000 to the campaign for the ballot measure.

“We rely on them,” said Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All. “The check is important, but having staff capacity — that’s great too.”

Mending fences with the CBC

Pritzker’s money is also helping repair his relationship with the Congressional Black Caucus after he went against one of their members, Rep. Robin Kelly, in the Illinois Senate primary earlier this year. Pritzker instead backed his lieutenant governor — Juliana Stratton, who is also Black — and spent $10 million winning her the nomination.

After the primary, Pritzker met with CBC members, “locked hands” and promised to generally help them grow their ranks in the midterms, according to a source familiar with his interactions with the caucus.

“He’s followed through on that commitment in areas that really matter to the caucus,” the source said, pointing to how Pritzker’s Ready for the Fight PAC is spending for Chris Jones in Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District, Shomari Figures in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District and Justin Pearson in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District.

Yet the source cautioned that Pritzker is just one of many potential presidential candidates who are already courting the caucus ahead of 2028.

Asked about Pritzker’s midterm donations, Rep. Joyce Beatty, a CBC member from Ohio who previously chaired the caucus, echoed a sentiment she shared after the Illinois primary.

“The Democratic candidate for president that prevails has to go through the CBC,” she said, calling the group “very strategic.”

Pritzker said he and his staff remain in touch with CBC leaders, as well as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the major party committees. He said he was trying to use Ready for the Fight PAC to “to make sure that we’re kind of broadening the battlefield, forcing Republicans to pull resources away from those mainline races.”

“We might turn this into a 30- or 35- or 40-seat win in the House, and that’s not to mention this could be 52 or 53 seats for Democratic senators,” Pritzker said. “And then we’ve got to do everything we can to support Black candidates, particularly post-the terrible voting rights decision that was made by the Supreme Court.”

Jones’ race has become especially exciting to Black Democrats as he gains momentum against GOP Rep. French Hill, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, in a solidly red district in Arkansas. Jones has also been endorsed by other potential 2028 candidates, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and Buttigieg.

A Democrat working on some of the House races that Ready for the Fight PAC is targeting said they all have “huge minority populations” that are important for Democrats to figure out how to turn out more reliably in off-year elections. “All of these are winnable with additional resources,” the Democrat said.

In some House races, Republican candidates have sought to make Pritzker’s financial backing a political liability. After Ready for the Fight PAC began spending in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, the Republican candidate, Greg Cunningham, released a statement saying that the “liberal billionaire governor of Illinois is coming to Gabe Vasquez’s rescue because they share the same far left values.”

Investing in Texas

Pritzker has been especially focused on Texas, where he has built a unique relationship with state Democratic lawmakers after hosting them in Illinois during a quorum break last year. He has made four trips to the state this cycle, most recently leading a news conference responding to the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas.

The delegate-rich state is not part of the early voting window but usually holds its primary days later in early March.

The chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, Kendall Scudder, said Pritzker’s $100,000 donation to the party is helping fund its voter protection program. But Scudder said he was most grateful for the “time and effort” that Pritkzer has taken to getting to know Texas Democrats, who’ve long fashioned themselves as scrappy red-state underdogs.

“You’ve got to throw down and fight back and not play it safe. He gets that,” Scudder said.

Pritzker’s money has been especially closely watched in the Texas governor’s race.

Pritzker first donated $200,000 to Hinojosa’s gubernatorial campaign on September 18, about two weeks after dozens of Latino leaders sent Beshear, the Democratic Governors Association chairman, a letter asking him to invest $10 million in the race. While Beshear has resisted that larger sum, he spoke with Hinojosa on September 29 and told her the DGA would commit $1 million to the race, according to two sources familiar with the conversation. Pritzker has since announced donating another $1 million to Hinojosa.

“Once [Pritzker] showed he believed in us, it helped open the door for a lot of other people to believe in us,” said Rebecca Katz, a Democratic strategist working for Hinojosa.

Pritzker downplayed any tensions with Beshear over the contest.

“Let’s not overlook this race is all I would say,” he said. “It’s not about the DGA. It’s about Democratic givers broadly recognizing the opportunity here.”

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