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With the victory of elected Democratic Governor J. B. Pritzker on Tuesday night, Illinois voters exchanged a wealthy businessman with no prior government experience against another. At the inauguration of Pritzker on January 14, he will succeed the Republican government Bruce Rauner, a massive government burdened with billions of dollars in unpaid bills, despite the increase in income tax last summer.
The celebration of the election day victory will leave room for Pritzker's transition, who will choose people to hold leadership positions in his administration and prepare to present his first budget plan in the spring, in just a few months.
In a speech cluttered with references to Illinois treasures such as the world's largest bottle of ketchup and the city of Superman at the southern tip of the state, Pritzker signaled to the administrator that his administration will have to overcome.
"Who are we, how can we overcome our greatest challenges," he said. "We are working to repair broken places. We brighten the path from one hill to the other. And recognize that there is grace, courage, and pride in the struggle for the climb. And, ladies and gentlemen, get up.
The Pritzker legislature needs to advance its agenda will be packed to Democrats after a blue sleight of hand has given House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate Speaker John Cullerton, another large majority in Springfield. The next governor wants to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, raise the minimum wage and bring sports betting into Illinois.
READ MORE: Democrat J. B. Pritzker overthrows Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's first term in run for governor of Illinois
However, as the mandates of the last two governors of Illinois show, it can be difficult to navigate complex files like these – even when a party controls the Capitol. And state legislators coming out of their own elections are not always ready to handle many controversial issues at once.
"I know that the entire Illinois Senate is eager to work with him to restore stability in our great state," Cullerton said in a statement. "We face many challenges, but I am determined to do my part to overcome them and I look forward to going to work."
Pritzker's plan to implement a progressive income tax requires changing the state's constitution, which it will have to approve by voters – by 2020. Some of Illinois's financial challenges are more immediate, however.
As of the polling day, the state was facing $ 7.5 billion in unpaid bills. That's almost 44 times more than the record of $ 171.5 million that Pritzker injected into his campaign thanks to his personal fortune. In addition, payments into state pension systems are increasing every year and legislators and Rauner have put in place a new school funding plan that plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more for schools. Republicans will also have demands from Pritzker and Democrats, but their reduced number in the legislature could make life difficult for the party after taking Rauner to the governor's office for four years.
"The fiscal mess that is the state of Illinois will have to be dealt with by the next governor, which scares me," he says. Republican Grant Wehrli, Republican of Naperville, said: Pritzker. "And we want reforms."
Countryside
Pritzker beat Rauner on Tuesday by a dominant margin, allowing him to claim that Illinois voters gave him the mandate to set the political agenda at least early in his tenure. However, some campaign mistakes could raise issues with lawmakers as he seeks to work with them in the early days of his administration.
Three weeks before polling day, several Pritzker staff members filed a lawsuit against the federal government alleging racial discrimination at work, accusations that he described as "completely inaccurate". one of them wears a dark facial cosmetics resembling a blackface.
And a confidential report from Cook County's largest watchdog revealed that Pritzker had unduly received $ 330,000 in property tax reliefs on one of his Gold Coast homes as part of a "ploy." to defraud taxpayers. He then refunded the money.
Who is Pritzker?
The policy came early for Pritzker, son of Donald Pritzker, who moved to California in the late 1950s to oversee three small hotels and build new ones, laying the foundation for Hyatt Hotels Corp.
His father was finance chairman of the 1972 presidential bid for Edmund Muskie. His mother, Susan, was an official of the Democratic Party of California. Politicians became regular guests of the family home and his father's office was used for a scene of Robert Redford's 1972 political satire titled "The Candidate."
But in 1972, Donald Pritzker died of a heart attack while playing tennis at age 39. A decade later, Susan Pritzker, who became an alcoholic after the death of her husband, died as a result of a car accident.
During his studies at Georgetown University, J. B. Pritzker was a part-time legislative assistant to the US Democratic Representative of California, Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor. At Duke University, he volunteered for the campaign in the US Senate of former North Carolina governor Terry Sanford before joining his staff. In 1988, Pritzker joined the team of Democratic Senator Alan Dixon of Illinois.
In Washington, Pritzker met and later married Mary Kathryn Muenster, who was assisting Democratic Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota. In 1993, Pritzker obtained a law degree from Northwestern University. The Faculty of Law is now named after a $ 100 million endowment in 2015.
Rather than practicing law, he embarked on private equity investment. Five years later, at the age of 32, he presented himself at the headquarters of the Côte-Nord congress, the American representative Sid Yates, giving up after almost half a century. Seeking a seat in a Liberal district, he campaigned to ban the sale of handguns and proposed a 24-hour daycare for working parents.
He finished third with 20% of the votes in a primary in 1998 won by Jan Schakowsky, who still holds the seat. Pritzker got help from campaign workers allied to the former 33rd Ald Ward. Richard Mell, the father-in-law of future governor Rod Blagojevich. Two years earlier, Pritzker had helped Blagojevich win his congressional seat.
The family name is synonymous with philanthropy and J.B. and M.K. Pritzker is focused on early childhood health and education initiatives through their family foundation.
In terms of business, Pritzker joined his older brother Tony to form the Pritzker Group, an investment and venture capital firm. In 2012, the candidate founded the 1871 high-tech start-up.
Much of his personal finances, however, remain secret.
Pritzker, which Forbes claims was worth $ 3.5 billion, refused to reveal the number of domestic and foreign family trusts he enjoys. It will not identify trusts by name or place of residence. And he refused to say how much money he gets from it.
The Tribune has found that Pritzker's investments abroad are larger than previously thought, with the money invested in at least 12 investment funds in the Cayman Islands. These investments add to its offshore screen companies revealed in a March Tribune report.
Twitter @MikeRiopell
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