CHICAGO, Ill. – Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has said more about Caterpillar’s decision to move its headquarters out of the State of Illinois after 100 years.
Pritzker answered a question about the move out of Deerfield, five years after the move out of Peoria, during an unrelated news conference in Chicago Wednesday.
“It is true that they are moving 240 of their personnel — those are not manufacturing personnel, they’re office personnel — to another location,” said Pritzker. “But, they have added hundreds of other jobs to the state. We have more than 17,400 Caterpillar employees that are working in factories and assembly plants.”
Pritzker says despite criticism from Republicans, the state has added “hundreds of thousands of jobs since the worst parts of the pandemic.”
Republicans have largely blamed Democrats for an allegedly unfriendly business culture in the state.
Speaking of Democrats, Pritzker confirms he will be campaigning ahead of the November election for candidates for Governor in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine — mostly because of the expectation that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe versus Wade.
“The Governors are the ones who are going to have power to make sure that we preserve reproductive rights for women — and, broadly, rights that are going to be taken away as a result of their overturning of the right to privacy,” said Pritzker.
There has been speculation such campaigning could lead to a run for President.
“I can’t tell you anything other than I love the job that I have,” said Pritzker. “It’s why I’m running for reelection as Governor of our state. I intend to continue to do a good job for the people of the state for the next four years.”
Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot are expected to make a bid for Chicago to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
“(The) 1996 (convention in Chicago) was fantastic,” said Pritzker. “Anybody that was around for the Democratic Convention knows that Chicago really showed off well to the entire nation. We’re going to do it again in 2024. I think that is what people are looking for.”
Pritzker calls Chicago “one of the greatest cities in the entire world.” Chicago also hosted the controversial and violent 1968 Democratic Convention.
