JB Pritzker Strikes Gavin Newsom Contrast as Democrats Eye 2028

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called out "do-nothing Democrats" in a speech on Sunday night and offered a contrasting viewpoint to California Governor Gavin Newsom, as the potential rivals lay the ground for 2028.

Pritzker delivered the keynote address at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner, the latest and most high-profile in a series of speeches this year.

Why It Matters

The two-term governor has taken up the fight against President Donald Trump and his Republicans, casting himself as one of the Democratic Party's leaders in its pushback against the administration.

The party is regrouping after 2024's election losses, with the central debate over whether Democrats should lean more or less into the progressivism that has predominated over the past few years.

With Pritzker, high-profile names such as Newsom and democratic socialist New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are at the fore of the debate, offering competing visions of what will deliver the Democrats' election wins in the future.

What To Know

While Pritzker continued to attack Trump in his speech, he also focused on what he says are shortcomings in his own party, assailing Democrats for listening to "a bunch of know-nothing political types" instead of everyday Americans.

Without naming names, he called out members of his party for "flocking to podcasts and cable news shows to admonish fellow Democrats for not caring enough about the struggles of working families.

"Those same do-nothing Democrats want to blame our losses on our defense of Black people, of trans kids, of immigrants, instead of their own lack of guts and gumption," Pritzker said.

Pritzker has yet to say whether he will run for the governor's office again in 2026, but the billionaire Hyatt heir has been laying the groundwork for a potential presidential campaign for years.

Newsom, another high-profile 2028 contender, has attempted a fresh approach to the political divide, positioning his This Is Gavin Newsom podcast as a bipartisan exploration, with guests from the right including conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.

He said on his podcast recently that the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador and detained at one point in a notorious megaprison, was a "distraction" from issues such as tariffs.

The California governor also said on his podcast's inaugural episode that he opposes trans athletes competing in women's sports.

Polling suggests immigration is Trump's strongest issue and that a majority of Democrats also oppose trans participation in women's sports.

Pritzker said on Sunday night that it was no time for Democrats to be in despair.

"Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption, but I am now," he said, stressing that the party "must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box."

Newsom told HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher in late March he found it bewildering that some members of his party refuse to even speak with Republicans and are instead content to remain in "echo chambers."

"These guys are crushing us. The Democratic brand is toxic right now," Newsom said.

"We had a high watermark two weeks ago, and that was a CNN poll, at 29 percent favorability. It's dropped in an NBC poll to 27 percent. It's one thing to make noise, but you also have to make sense."

Newsom defended his podcast as a chance to have the conversations the Democratic Party refuses to have and "not take cheap shots." He also criticized Democrats for being "more judgmental" and not owning up to "cancel culture."

He said the party has "got to mature," and that Democrats "need to own our mistakes…own what's wrong with our party."

What People Are Saying

Dr. Thomas Gift, director of the Centre on US Politics at UCL, told Newsweek: "Pritzker's comments are certainly a not-so-subtle dig at Gavin Newsom, widely seen as a possible Democratic competitor in 2028. The remarks give a preview of the kind of ideological lane each is scoping out for their presidential runs. Newsom doesn't want to cede the center, while Pritzker wants to capture the left-wing base."

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg warned last week that Democrats are "failing to meet the moment" as they suffer record-low approval ratings and uncertainty in leadership.

"People in D.C. continue to act like we can just have the same cast of characters and not change anything that much fundamentally and just hope if we throw a couple 100 million dollars at some front-line districts, things are going to change, and frankly, that is not going to be possible," Hogg told CNN.

"There are far too many people in Congress that are failing to meet the moment right now, and we need to do two things at once."

This article uses reporting by The Associated Press.

Update, 4/18/25, 6:18 a.m. ET: A comment by Dr. Thomas Gift was added.