CHICAGO — Gov. J.B. Pritzker began the week with a White House visit for an event marking the passage of bipartisan gun legislation and will end it Saturday with a speech at a fundraiser for Florida Democrats, further fueling speculation — and criticism — that he’s eyeing a presidential bid even as he seeks a second term as Illinois’ chief executive.
The visit to Florida, a key presidential swing state, comes roughly a month after he made a similar appearance in New Hampshire, which has long hosted the first presidential primary and is a traditional stop for candidates testing the waters for a White House run.
The Florida trip, during which Pritzker will deliver the keynote address at the state Democratic Party’s Leadership Blue Gala, also comes as Pritzker has raised his national profile with impassioned pleas for abortion protections and gun control in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and last week’s deadly mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade.
