Does 'All-In Illinois' Slogan Apply To Billionaire Gov's Family?

Mark Konkol
Updated ·6 min read

CHICAGO — All over the country, a collection of first ladies have emerged as valuable advocates in the fight to slow the spread of new coronavirus.

Last week, Maryland first lady Yumi Hogan was hailed a hero for quietly scoring 500,000 COVID-19 tests kits from South Korea to aid the Old Line State's coronavirus response.

"We convened countless calls, nearly every night, sometimes it seemed like all night," Gov. Larry Hogan said of the 22 days he and his wife, a fine artist, lobbied the Korean government to purchase the hard-to-come-by coronavirus test kits.

As the pandemic keeps Californians on a strict lockdown, Gov. Gavin Newsom's "first partner," Jennifer Seibel, has stepped up to lead her state's volunteer commission, publicly promised to fight for children falling behind in school without internet access, and even tweeted about struggling like everybody else when her family ran out of toilet paper thanks to Golden State hoarders.

Melania Trump recently "found her voice" in stay-at-home America, the Washington Post's style-section declared, citing the first lady's recent tweets praising grocery workers and public service announcements promoting the CDC's public health guidance.

Former first lady Michelle Obama teamed up with Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to spread the word about free public coronavirus testing sites around the district, where she's self-quarantining with former President Barack Obama and their daughters.

But in Illinois, we haven't heard much from first lady M.K. Pritzker, except early this month when she signed on to help raise money for Art for Illinois relief program.

In Crain's Chicago Business columnist Greg Hinz's day-in-the life tale of Illinois' rookie governor amid the pandemic, we learned Pritzker watched "Tiger King" on Netflix, a how he usually ends his day — "a little dinner, then he chats with his son and makes more calls" — but nothing of the first lady or his daughter.

The governor didn't mention his wife when reporters asked the billionaire about how he's doing physically and emotionally under his own stay-at-home order.

"I’ll just say I’m managing through this time reasonably well," Pritzker said on April 17. "I think there is an emotional component to this that I’ll just not spend a lot of time on."

As things turn out, as the governor makes regular public pleas for Illinoisans to be "All In" during the extended stay-at-home fight to slow the spread of COVID-19, Mrs. Pritzker has been out of state, sources told Patch.

Specifically, the first lady has been spending time at their $12-million equestrian estate in Wellington, just down the horse trail from Bruce Springsteen, Bill Gates and Billy Joel, the family purchased shortly after J.B. was elected governor last year.

Not that I think there's anything wrong with that. "First lady" isn't an official title. Mrs. Pritzker can raise cash for Illinois artists from anywhere. She has no obligation to sequester herself in their Astor Street mansion in the Gold Coast when her family can hop on a private plane to stay-at-home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the family estate in the Bahamas (close to the governor's off-shore bank accounts) and, of course, their place in the "winter equestrian capital of the world" in Florida.

Besides, billionaires probably deal with the coronavirus-related lockdowns different from work-a-day folks. Take President Trump's buddy, Kanye West, the Chicago-born billionaire rapper. "Yeezus," as he calls himself, recently gave his wife, Kim Kardashian, a coronavirus-crisis "break" by taking their kids to their "massive" properties in Cody, Wyoming for a few days, according to People.

It's not like our billionaire governor's family doesn't have a reason for time spent in America's southernmost red state. The first lady grew up riding horses in South Dakota. The Pritzkers' daughter, a competitive show jumper, has been training in Wellington while her dad has been getting to know reporters better during his daily pandemic news conferences. One of the Pritzkers' horses had a foal last week, according to Instagram.

But there's no getting around the ironic, political intrigue of Illinois' first lady quietly spending time out of the public eye at one of the family vacation homes while so many non-billionaires financially and emotionally struggle under her husband's newly extended coronavirus stay-at-home order, the second-longest in America.

Certainly there must be a reason that Illinois' first lady's coronavirus response has differed from the spouses of other prominent elected officials.

Maybe that's how rich people work remotely? Or she’s following the prevailing migration trend — in 2018, according an IRS report released in January, about 24,000 Illinoisans moved to the Sunshine State, a land of balanced budgets, lower tax burdens and a AAA credit rating.

So far, the governor's media operation hasn't responded to a request for comment.

Mrs. Pritzker certainly has the means to be "all in" Illinois with the rest of us if she wants.

But who can blame her really, it's 83-and-sunny in Florida and she's a billionaire.

I wouldn't stay-at-home here, either.

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and Emmy-nominated producer, was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docu-series on CNN. He was a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary, "16 Shots."

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This article originally appeared on the Chicago Patch