Pritzker gives shoe leather and big bucks to Democrats running for state’s top court — but GOP says he’s skirting the law

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (center) speaks at a Springfield news conference in April with state Senate President Don Harmon (left) and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (right). (Blue Room Stream)

Showing the high-stakes nature of the state’s Supreme Court races, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has dipped into a trust fund to contribute to two Democratic judicial candidates in races that could reshape the Illinois Supreme Court — a decision Republicans say is skirting contribution limits the governor set himself. 

All eyes in the political world are on the Second Supreme Court District, where former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran is running against Democrat Elizabeth “Liz” Rochford, a Lake County judge — and in the Third Supreme Court District, where Appellate Justice Mary Kay O’Brien, also a former Democratic state legislator, faces appointed Supreme Court Justice Michael J. Burke.