JB Pritzker is the 43rd Governor of Illinois, serving since January 14, 2019. A billionaire businessman and member of the Hyatt hotel fortune Pritzker family, he is seeking his third term in 2026, which would make him the first Democratic governor in Illinois history to complete two full terms. His administration has focused on fiscal stabilization (nine credit rating upgrades, balanced budgets, elimination of multi-billion-dollar bill backlog), progressive policy agenda (reproductive rights, gun control, minimum wage increases, clean energy), and confrontation with Trump administration policies (immigration enforcement, tariffs, federal funding cuts).
Pritzker was born January 19, 1965 in Palo Alto, California to billionaire businessman Donald Pritzker (president of Hyatt) and Sue Pritzker. After his father died in 1972 and his mother died in 1982, Pritzker moved in with his aunt. He graduated from Duke University and Northwestern Law School. Before politics, he founded Pritzker Group Private Capital, co-founded Chicago Ventures, and served as national co-chair of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. Married to Mary Kathryn "M.K." Muenster since 1993; two children; resides in Chicago's Gold Coast.