Gov. Pritzker tells Biden: Democratic convention in Chicago will be ‘huge party’
After Mayor Lori Lightfoot was told by DNC Chair Jaime Harrison Chicago won the convention, the mayor, defeated for reelection, said ‘I told him he made my day, week, and year.’
Last July, Gov. J.B. Pritzker was joined by other elected officials and representatives from the Democratic National Committee to advocate for Chicago being picked to host the 2024 convention. On Tuesday, he got his wish.
When President Joe Biden called Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday morning to tell him Chicago landed the 2024 convention, the governor vowed the city would “throw a huge party” to celebrate his successes.
The call came more than a year after Pritzker first pitched Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison on hosting the convention. Biden called Pritzker with the DNC news just before boarding Air Force One for Ireland.
Biden thanked Pritzker for “all of his support,” and told him, “I just want you to know we’re planning on having the Democratic convention in Chicago,” according to a source.
Pritzker said, “You know that Chicago is your kind of town. We’re going to throw a huge party, and it’s going to be a real big celebration of all of your successes.”
Since that call — and his arrival home to Chicago after attending events at Harvard — Pritzker has been glued to his phone. Traveling with Pritzker was Anne Caprara, his chief of staff, who used her own extensive contacts in the Biden orbit to lobby for Chicago to be the host city in 2024.
Pritzker told the Sun-Times he had spoken with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to thank them for their “representation” of the “Blue Wall” of the Midwest.
More than 18 months ago, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a DNC co-chair, thought Chicago should pursue a 2024 presidential convention bid. “I got the ball rolling,” she told the Sun-Times. Once Duckworth decided Chicago should bid, she went to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Pritzker, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and some business leaders. They “thought it was great. And then I asked them for money,” to put together a bid.
Said Duckworth, who has keynoted at three Democratic conventions, “It’s really been a team effort to get to this place where we got this successful announcement.”
Lori Lightfoot
When Harrison phoned Lightfoot — defeated for re-election on Feb. 28 — with the news about Chicago’s win, “I told him he made my day, week and year,” Lightfoot told the Sun-Times.
“Look, this is something that we’ve been working on for quite a long time. We tried to take advantage of every opportunity to really showcase our city and demonstrate why Chicago should be the choice for the convention. Lightfoot gave a hat tip to Duckworth because “she’s the person who brought this notion to all of us and lit the spark.”
Landing the Democratic convention while mayor is part of Lightfoot’s legacy.
Brandon Johnson
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson learned Chicago would host the convention when he got a call from someone at the White House on Tuesday morning.
Johnson, who will be sworn in as mayor on May 15, said he was so excited to get a call from the White House that he saved the voicemail “to make sure that my grandchildren hear it one day.”
Johnson, still absorbing the enormity of becoming mayor, reacted to Chicago landing the convention in personal terms.
“This is an exciting time. I mean, I was teaching middle school, you know, just a handful of years ago. I’m Mayor-elect and I’m getting a phone call from the White House — and that one of the most dynamic conventions known to humankind is coming to the city which just elected me,” he said.
“So I’m very, very excited, thrilled, humbled. It’s been a great ... team effort,” Johnson added.
Said former President Barack Obama in a tweet, “There’s no place like Chicago! Michelle and I are thrilled to have the Democratic National Convention return to our hometown next year.”
GOP slams Chicago choice
As Chicago convention boosters were highlighting the logistical and political advantages of Chicago, national and state Republicans seized on the city’s crime woes.
Tommy Pigott, rapid response director for the Republican National Committee, said in a statement that, “Democrats just chose one of the worst-run cities in America for their convention: Chicago. Illinois.” Republican Party Chair Don Tracy said it’s no surprise the DNC chose Chicago, “where they can put the city’s failed far-left policies on display for the world to see.”
Asked whether the DNC questioned Chicago’s crime rate when considering the city as a convention site, Pritzker said, “They never challenged Chicago on that basis.” He said every major city saw a rise in crime during the pandemic — and cited improvements.
Sneed is told President Joe Biden was actually warned a year and a half ago by a top top Dem pollster that his re-election was in the doghouse with young voters. Gov. J.B. Pritzker was being urged to run in a primary in case Biden pulled the plug.
Teams fanned out around the United Center and McCormick Place on Friday distributing flyers to explain the security perimeter zones that begin as early as Aug. 16.
The up-and-coming Chicago artist’s major commission in East Garfield Park is one of seven projects tied to the city’s moment in the national political spotlight.
From reminders of the hurdles they’ve had to overcome to confidence in Harris’ ability to lead, these delegates describe what the vice president’s nomination means to them.
The courtroom at the Area 3 police station at Belmont and Western will be staffed from 8 a.m. to midnight during the week of the convention, which begins Aug. 19.
The Sun-Times first reported the Harris campaign called Pritzker Wednesday about the possibility of serving as her running mate, but the Illinois governor told reporters that Harris’ campaign “did not call me yesterday.” The Sun-Times stands by its story.
The maps designate two separate perimeters around the United Center and McCormick Place, where Democratic delegates will respectively meet to coronate the party’s presidential nominee and conduct party business
The Democratic National Convention takes place Aug. 19-22, but street closings and public transit detours begin days earlier — and the sprucing up is already underway. “It’s b—----- because it took [the convention] for them to fix it up,” said Henry Horner Homes resident Tracy Johnson of the improvements.
The vice president is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., a Black Greek-letter organization. Her more than 300,000 “sorors” plan to play a large role in the November presidential election.
The department got a black eye over how it dealt with protests following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. And the images of cops beating demonstrators with batons during the Democratic convention in 1968 are still seared into the national consciousness.
Harris’ campaign called the governor to discuss the No. 2 spot on Wednesday, a source told the Sun-Times. “I’d be reluctant to make a change, but it’d be hard to resist a call and consideration if the nominee called me to ask to be considered for vice president,” Pritzker said on CNN.
The goal is for the nominee to be selected by Aug.7 in order to lock in access to ballots in every state by not waiting for the Democratic convention in Chicago running Aug. 19-22.
The rally in West Allis, just outside Milwaukee, came a day after the vice president earned the support of enough delegates to secure the nomination, which is expected to come formally in early August via a virtual roll call.
“They’re going to do everything they can to turn the American people against her,” former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun told the Sun-Times. “There are a lot of people out there who don’t like the idea of a woman telling them what to do.”
Individual members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. — whose headquarters are in Chicago — have begun mobilizing in masses to support their “soror” in the historic race for president.
Some major donors signaled their distress about Biden staying in the race by declining to write more checks or host events. That concern dissolved within hours of Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic 2024 nominee, with no rival coming forward.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who had been on short lists as a potential replacement for President Joe Biden, said Monday morning he had spoken to Harris and told her the president’s decision “came as a genuine surprise.”
The decision comes after escalating pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step aside following the June 27 debate, in which the 81-year-old president trailed off, often gave nonsensical answers and failed to call out Donald Trump’s many falsehoods.
The fundraiser will be at the home of a family friend on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The campaign has at least 10 other fundraising events over the last 10 days of July.
Martez Cristler and Nicholas Virgil were charged with murder and aggravated arson, Chicago police said. Anthony Moore was charged with fraud and forgery in connection with the fatal West Pullman house fire that killed Pelt.
“In terms of that, it kind of just is what it is right now,” Crochet said pregame. “I’m focused on pitching for the White Sox, and beyond that, I’m not really controlling much.”
Taking away guns from people served with domestic violence orders of protection would be a lot of work. “There aren’t enough sworn officers to carry out what’s being asked here,” Pritzker said.
