Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker may be a billionaire, but should the Democrat run for president in 2028, he may for the first time accept fundraising dollars, NBC News has learned.
Two people involved in discussions around Pritzker strategy said while the governor has not pulled the trigger on a 2028 campaign, he has given early signs that he would not self-finance — at least not entirely. Pritzker has reached out to operatives who have national fundraising experience and internally discussed what digital fundraising might look like, a person with knowledge of the conversations said.
For the governor seeking a third term in Illinois, it would be the first time he ever looked to fundraise from donors. He first ran for governor in 2018, leaning on his personal wealth.
Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, is a free-spending billionaire, who for years sprinkled millions of dollars across the country to support state parties or back ballot questions on reproductive rights in battleground states.
Between his 2018 and 2022 runs for governor, he spent more than $350 million of his own money. Via a super PAC, he also threw $10 million behind Illinois Democratic Senate nominee Juliana Stratton in her primary earlier this year.
The sources point to the gargantuan sums now needed to finance a national presidential run. In 2024, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris together spent more than $2 billion in Democrats’ failing bid against President Donald Trump.
While that was in a lengthy general election, there are benefits of not entirely self-financing in a primary.
Candidates often display electoral strength through shows of grassroots fundraising, and political observers watch to see whether a candidate is capable of drawing that support, one of the people stressed. Another consideration: If 2028 is anything like 2020, an open Democratic presidential primary could draw more than 20 candidates, and party debate criteria included a small-dollar fundraising component last time around.
Pritzker, who Forbes estimates is worth about $4 billion, is also well aware of the backlash against billionaires in his party and has over the years been accused of "buying" public office. In the run-up to the midterms and 2028, the top-versus-bottom messaging popularized by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is already proving to be a dominant narrative.
The prospect of Pritzker running and competing for donor money in 2028 could create an interesting competition with the other potential 2028 presidential contender in Illinois, Rahm Emanuel. When it comes to larger individual donors, the former Chicago mayor and Pritzker may be looking at a shared base.
Pritzker’s campaign did not directly address the prospect of future fundraising for a potential presidential bid, instead saying he is focused on his run for a third term as governor.
“Governor Pritzker is running for re-election and is engaged with Democrats across the country as we fight to take back Congress in November," Pritzker campaign spokesman Alex Gough said in a statement. "We aren’t focused on hypotheticals."
The prospect of asking small donors to donate to a billionaire, particularly in a strained economy, could be fraught. But President Donald Trump, also a billionaire, won two elections while leaning on small dollar fundraising.
Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer took that approach in his 2020 presidential run to qualify for Democratic debates, which called for escalating numbers of individual donors on top of getting certain polling benchmarks. He dropped out after he was unable to perform in early nominating states.
Businessman Michael Bloomberg, whose net worth is estimated at $104.7 billion by Forbes, entirely funded his 2020 campaign, spending more than $1 billion on a three-month presidential bid in 2020.
