GOP candidates: Illinois families struggle while Pritzker wins in Las Vegas

GOP candidates: Illinois families struggle while Pritzker wins in Las Vegas

October 21, 2025/
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By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker was a big winner in Las Vegas, but his Republican rivals say the governor’s policies are giving Illinois families a losing hand.

Pritzker told reporters last week that his $1.4 million in reported gambling earnings last year came from playing blackjack during a trip to Las Vegas.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ted Dabrowski held a press conference outside Bally Casino in Chicago Tuesday and said Pritzker has audacity to say how well Illinois is doing.

“He touts growth in Illinois, he touts that he’s making it more affordable. He makes a lot of claims that are just not true,” Dabrowski said.

The former Wirepoints president said Pritzker is divorced from the struggles of everyday people in Illinois.

“On the economy, it’s the sixth-worst in the nation since he took office, on wages seventh-worst in the country, property taxes the highest in the country. Gas taxes, he doubled the motor fuel tax. They’re now the second-highest in the country,” Dabrowski said.

2022 GOP nominee and 2026 candidate Darren Bailey said most people dream of winning over a million dollars, like Pritzker did playing blackjack in Las Vegas.

“That’s what I’ve been fighting and pushing for literally the last seven years is just trying to show the people of Illinois that this man has absolutely nothing in common with the average working family here in Illinois,” Bailey told The Center Square.

Bailey said Pritzker is “living the high life” in Las Vegas while hard-working families are struggling.

DuPage County Sheriff and 2026 GOP gubernatorial candidate James Mendrick said Pritzker was gambling a lot of money in order to win as much as he did.

“For him, I think he thinks it’s like Monopoly money. He doesn’t have to pay his taxes like we do. He doesn’t have worry about if he’s going to be able to make a car payment. He doesn’t have to worry about making ends meet. It’s very obvious that his budgeting reflects that just like his social life does,” Mendrick told The Center Square.

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