New running mate joins ticket with range of experience from military to Statehouse
By BEN SZALINSKI
Capitol News Illinois
bszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com
Article Summary
- Gov. JB Pritzker’s new running mate Christian Mitchell has held several roles in state government, including lawmaker and deputy governor.
- Pritzker said he trusts Mitchell is ready to take over as governor if required and Mitchell said he shares Pritzker’s vision for Illinois.
- Mitchell spearheaded some of Pritzker’s top legislative accomplishments during his first term.
- Affordability will be a top issue for Pritzker’s campaign, Mitchell said.
- Mitchell said he’s willing to consider ethics reform after holding a top leadership position in the Democratic Party of Illinois under former Chair Mike Madigan.
At 38 years old, Christian Mitchell has been inside most corners of state government as a top advisor on political campaigns, state legislator, deputy governor and civic engagement leader at a major university.
All those experiences make him ready to be Gov. JB Pritzker’s running mate next year in the governor’s campaign for a third term, Mitchell said.
“Bringing somebody who will continue to do the work, who with the governor, will go everywhere in the state of Illinois, advocating for the state of Illinois — that’s the thing I think I bring to the ticket. And I think we think about the state the same way,” Mitchell said in an interview with Capitol News Illinois.
Mitchell, a Black Bronzeville resident who currently works as vice president of civic engagement for the University of Chicago, was raised by his single mom and his grandfather and attended the now-shuttered St. Joseph High School in Westchester. He got an undergraduate degree in public policy from the University of Chicago, and while serving in the General Assembly, earned his law degree at Loyola University.
Mitchell represented a South Side of Chicago district in the Illinois House from 2013 until 2019 when Pritzker selected him to be one of four deputy governors, which serve a chief of staff-like role in Pritzker’s administration overseeing specific state agencies and policy areas.
He also joined the Illinois Air National Guard in 2023 shortly after leaving the governor’s office.
“It’s certainly not great for my free time, but your time is the most precious thing you have and the ability to give my time in service of my state and my country is very important to me,” Mitchell said.
Why Pritzker picked Mitchell
Pritzker told reporters in the days after he launched his campaign he was looking for a running mate who shared the same affinity for Illinois and was qualified to step in as governor if required. He said he picked Mitchell more than a week before announcing his reelection in late June, but he declined to say how many people he considered.
“He is somebody that I have grown to trust,” Pritzker said at an event in Peoria. “I’ve seen him usher enormous legislation through the legislature. … He’s a guy who knows how to get big things done and I’ve worked with him to get it done and I’m excited for the people of Illinois to get to know him.”
Lieutenant governors in Illinois have virtually no constitutional authority, other than to replace a governor who is impeached, resigns or dies in office. Pritzker’s running mate selection has received more attention as the governor is believed to be considering running for president in 2028 and would resign as governor if victorious.
Mitchell said he’s running to be Pritzker’s right-hand man for four years, but said Pritzker would make a good candidate for president.
“Illinois is the state most representative of the nation and it’s really exciting to see a governor who is considered for president and not for prison,” Mitchell said, referring to the fact that two of Illinois’ last five governors and four of the last 11 have served time in prison.
“I think he would be excellent. Having said that, that’s why I’m so excited he’s running for reelection to continue the progress of the last seven years,” Mitchell added.
Christian Mitchell, Gov. JB Pritzker’s running mate, listens during a conversation at Peach’s Restaurant in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on July 2. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)
Though Mitchell hails from Chicago, Pritzker said he believes Mitchell can appropriately address the needs of all areas of the state.
“When you’re a state representative, you don’t just represent the people of your district; you are also voting on things that are good for people all across the state,” Pritzker told reporters last week after greeting Chicagoans at a Bronzeville coffee shop with Mitchell.
Policy goals
As deputy governor, Mitchell led some of Pritzker’s hallmark initiatives through the General Assembly during his first term: a $45 billion infrastructure plan, legalization of cannabis for recreational use by adults, and a climate initiative setting clean energy goals for the state.
Mitchell has a reputation as a hard-nosed negotiator, even among fellow Democrats. Though he has sometimes angered political allies, Mitchell said he’s open to listening to anyone’s ideas.
“For me, it’s build the biggest tent that you possibly can, ask people for their ideas and be willing to listen to them and change your mind when something is different than you thought it was,” Mitchell said. “That’s how Gov. Pritzker has always led, that’s how he has always directed me when I was deputy governor, that’s what we’ll do as partners in state government going forward.”
Christian Mitchell, candidate for lieutenant governor, speaks to former Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush at Peach’s restaurant in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on July 2. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)
Economic affordability is a top concern for Pritzker, who has preached in national media interviews that Democrats must champion policies addressing cost-of-living concerns for Americans. Mitchell said he shares those goals.
“People want to know that you understand what’s going on in their lives, that you’re working on your behalf every single day and when you do things that they can see on their paycheck, in their pocketbook, that is how you inspire confidence and that is something I think we can do as statewide elected officials,” Mitchell said.
He acknowledged price concerns are a macroeconomic issue outside the state’s total control, but Mitchell said state lawmakers can promote policies that lower costs within the state’s control. Reducing the education system’s reliance on property taxes could be a priority in a third Pritzker administration.
“The governor has put … hundreds of millions of new dollars into education every single year to help drive down that burden,” Mitchell said. “We do now need to work with our local governments to make sure those savings are being passed along. That’s another way in which you touch people’s pocketbooks directly.”
Mitchell said he sees some of the same themes surrounding affordability concerns for voters playing out in the 2026 election that helped Democrats win big victories in Illinois in 2018 when he was executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Democrats swept races for statewide offices that year and gained supermajorities in the legislature that have remained strong since then.
Madigan ties and ethics reform
Mike Madigan was chair of the state party while Mitchell worked as executive director. Madigan, the longtime speaker of the Illinois House until early 2021, was sentenced last month to 7 ½ years in federal prison for bribery and corruption.
Prosecutors accused Madigan of using his positions as House speaker, party chair and as partner in his real estate law firm as a “criminal enterprise” meant to maintain and increase his power while enriching his allies. He was not convicted of the overarching racketeering charge regarding the alleged “enterprise,” but was convicted on lesser bribery counts.
Mitchell took over the administrative reins of the party from Tim Mapes, Madigan’s trusted chief of staff who was accused in early 2018 of sexual harassment and bullying, who is now in prison for perjury.
A woman shakes Christian Mitchell’s hand at a campaign event hosted by Peach’s Restaurant in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on July 2. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)
Like many other Democrats, Mitchell said Illinois has moved beyond Madigan’s era and brand of politics.
“I think it’s important to take the message that not just voters but now a jury has sent, which is let’s make Illinois the most ethical state in the nation,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell argued that work started with the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act – the 2021 clean energy policy he led for the governor’s office. In addition to setting decarbonization goals, it also ended the formula rate system that was at the center of bribery allegations against Madigan and the electric utility Commonwealth Edison.
State lawmakers passed other ethics legislation in 2021 months after Madigan left Springfield and nearly a year before he would ever be charged with a crime. But the legislature has largely not dealt with the issue since then, even after Madigan was convicted early this year.
Mitchell said he and Pritzker would be open to any ethics proposals in the future.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
