Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker is looking to repair his relationship with the African-American community after a difficult week.
“I’m not going to get every African-American vote,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker, who has been embroiled in scandal this week after tapes surfaced that recorded him making controversial comments about African-American leaders.
Amid the controversy, Secretary of State Jesse White and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle both reaffirmed their support of Pritzker.
“I feel like people understand that it was a mistake that was made 9 years ago, and it doesn’t negate decades of work that I’ve done to lift up the African-American community,” he said.
Democratic rivals Daniel Biss and Chris Kennedy believe the leaked phone calls might also change the dynamics of the race, and were critical of Pritzker’s comments.
“That’s not how anybody should be talking, and to see a white male billionaire talking to a white male governor about which African-American man they’re going to install into office is insulting,” Biss said.
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Despite the criticism, Pritzker feels that he will be able to weather the storm, and says that the release of the recordings shows that Governor Bruce Rauner is desperate to get him out of the race before the general election.
“What’s important is that people who are supporting Bruce Rauner are behind it, and they’re only doing things about me,” he said. “They’re attacking me every day and they haven’t yet gone after either of my opponents, and I wonder why that is. Bruce Rauner wants to invade the Democratic primary because he knows that I’m the only candidate that can beat him in the general election.”
