Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot receives endorsement from IL Senator Tammy Duckworth

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot received her first state-wide endorsement Thursday.

"Hello this is Senator Tammy Duckworth and I am proud to endorse my good friend, Mayor Lori Lightfoot for her reelection campaign," Duckworth said in a video released by Lightfoot's campaign.

During an unrelated news conference Governor JB Pritzker was asked if he would be endorsing Lightfoot and he gave a very non-committal response.

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"You know, I'm engaged in my own campaign, as you know, for reelection as governor," Pritzker said. "So, you know, those of us who live in the city of Chicago, we'll consider the question of the mayoralty after the November election."

"The mayor is also very focused on re-electing Gov Pritzker, as he has been a tremendous partner through some of our city's most challenging times," a Lightfoot campaign spokeswoman said in a statement.

The mayor and the governor have had, at times, a very cool relationship, going back to the pandemic shutdown, but one political consultant believes Pritzker's hesitancy could be a more practical one.

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"So it buys him some time. And buying that time also allows him an opportunity to see who all is going to be in the race because I'm sure the field is not complete as of yet," political consultant Delmarie Cobb said.

Pritzker could have learned his lesson after his early endorsement of Anna Valencia in the Democratic primary for Secretary of State which turned out to be a bad use of political capital.

"And there were many people who wondered why would he come out and endorse anybody because he, it's not that he had to, and what if the person lost and in this case she did," Cobb said.

When pressed to clarify his stance on a mayoral endorsement, Pritzker left the door open to support someone.

"Just because I haven't talked about endorsements in future elections does not mean that there isn't a possibility," Pritzker said at a second news conference.

The mayoral election is not until February, but with some political observers seeing Lightfoot as being vulnerable, perhaps the governor's decision to delay an endorsement may be political as well as practical.