2026 US election results: JB Pritzker, Illinois governor touted as potential candidate for 2028 presidential race, defeats Republican Darren Bailey to win third term

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has secured a third term in office, defeating Republican Darren Bailey in a rematch of the 2022 poll, according to projections from AP and NBC News. The victory gives a political boost to Pritzker, who is often touted as a potential presidential candidate for the 2028 race.

Why is Pritzker considered presidential candidate?

Pritzker has visited what are considered key early presidential primary states, such as New Hampshire and South Carolina. He has also increasingly entered the national spotlight, including when he strongly objected to President Donald Trump’s attempts to deploy the National Guard (NG) in Illinois and harsh immigration operations that took place in the state last year.

Pritzker took on Trump last year

In comments made last year, Trump had said that Pritzker belonged in jail. At the time, the Democrat told reporters that the president should "come and get me."

"Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power,” he wrote on social media. "What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?" Pritzker, a billionaire, has funded his own campaigns for governor.

Pritzker on tax and data centers

Earlier this year, Pritzker worked to reduce expansion of data centers, which are unpopular with the state's voters, calling for a two-year suspension of tax incentives for new data center proposals.

Pritzker has also attempted but failed to change the deep-blue state's income tax structure, with an aim to create a graduated income tax instead of a flat tax. He has said that such a tax structure would bring more revenue to the state and place higher tax burden on the wealthiest.

But in 2020, Illinois voters rejected a ballot question to change the state's tax structure. At that time, billionaire Ken Griffin had funded a countercampaign to defeat the proposal.

Other Democratic governors on the ballot

Pritzker was one of several Democratic governors, including Wes Moore in Maryland and Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, on the ballot in Tuesday's midterm election who are considered potential candidates for the next presidential election.