We’ve all done it: On the eve of a tough final exam, or while prepping for a meeting you wish you could skip, or driving to a dinner with your crazy in-laws, you catch yourself fantasizing about things you’d much rather be doing. In most cases, we’re able to snap ourselves out of it and get down to the business at hand.
We have to hope our elected leaders are similarly able to pop any daydream bubbles floating above their heads, set aside reveries about future glory, and hunker down to deal with what is shaping up to be one of the most complicated and unpredictable fiscal seasons in recent memory. But given some of the headlines swirling around the political press in the past week or so, there’s reason to wonder.
It’s an open secret, for instance, that Gov. JB Pritzker is mulling a bid for the presidency, even as re-election to a third term in the Governor’s Mansion looms. In TV interviews, speaking engagements before deep-blue organizations like the Center for American Progress and in-person visits to presidential campaign magnets such as New Hampshire, Pritzker has taken on the mantle of the anti-Trump, articulating what he sees as the best strategy for a party that’s been lost in the wilderness since November.
Two old-school Democratic hands — David Axelrod and Pete Giangreco — both made a splash by opining the other day to WBEZ that Pritzker would be better off focusing on a presidential run rather than seeking re-election as governor in 2026. Their reasons were largely political, unsurprisingly enough:
“Third terms are notoriously perilous, and things that can go wrong tend to go wrong in third terms,” Axelrod said. “If your attention is divided between running for president, which is a hellacious job in itself, and . . . dealing with crises at home, that is a very difficult balance to strike."
Said Giangreco: "You can govern or you can run for president. The stakes are too high to try to do both."
Not to be outdone, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel also nudged his way into the spotlight with a series of appearances that turned up the flame on speculation he may be eyeing another run for office as well, telling tablemates on ABC’s "The View" that he is "in training" for a White House bid.
Add in the statewide game of musical chairs set off by Sen. Dick Durbin’s retirement, and we’re looking at what Crain’s columnist Greg Hinz described as a once-in-a-lifetime generational shift in Illinois politics.
This would all be well and good were it not for the urgent business that really needs doing around this state right now. Financial messes are nothing new in Chicago or in Illinois, but with deep cuts to federal spending and reliance on tariffs now the hallmarks of President Donald Trump’s second term, there are new levels of instability to grapple with.
As Crain’s John Pletz was first to report, Pritzker’s budget office now expects about $500 million less in revenue for the coming fiscal year. Among the culprits: $351 million less in corporate income taxes because of a lower forecast for corporate profits, and $289 million less in individual income taxes because of recently reduced forecasts of employment, lower wage and salary growth, and lower estimated stock market performance. The new budget forecast also predicts $150 million less in sales taxes and $70 million less from the federal government.
Meanwhile, the Chicago region’s transit agencies are rolling rapidly toward the edge of a $771 million fiscal cliff. Key lawmakers working on a rescue plan say a fix is starting to take shape — none too soon, given an end-of-the-month deadline to avoid calamity. Legislators have been working for more than a year to come up with a plan that not only includes funding but also changes in oversight between Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority and Pace — and, no surprise, the leaders of these fiefdoms haven’t always been eager to play along. Getting all stakeholders to "yes" in a matter of weeks will require real leadership — and focus.
Similarly, Chicago Public Schools just sent up a trial balloon: Officials there say they’re putting together a roughly $10 billion budget for next school year that relies on getting more money from the city or state — neither of which has committed to the funding.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. To get through a period this challenging and tumultuous, Chicago and Illinois are going to need steady, consistent leadership from people who have their eye squarely on the ball. Can those who asked for the job be counted on to do the job?
