02-07-2025
Bronzeville restaurant serves up politics as Pritzker, Mitchell make first campaign stop
CHICAGO (WGN) — Politics was again on the menu for Wednesday's lunch at Peaches in Bronzeville, with Gov. JB Pritzker and his new running mate, Christian Mitchell, making their first campaign stop together.
With current Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton vying for a US Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Dick Durbin, Mitchell has stepped in for her on the ballot. Pritzker and Mitchell both stress the transition would be smooth; they worked well together during Mitchell's tenure as deputy governor.
'Everywhere in the state of Illinois we have worked hard to lift people up, we're going to continue to do that as a team,' Mitchell said.
Gov. Pritzker announces Christian Mitchell as pick for Lieutenant Governor
Various Chicago politicos happened to be at Peaches when the pair stopped by, including former Rep. Bobby Rush and Sean Harden, the president of the Chicago Board of Education.
'At the heart of it, I think they appreciate the importance of education,' Harden said. 'There's no doubt about that and we just have to rebuild the relationship.'
Peaches, near East 47th Street and South Martin Luther King Drive, sits in the statehouse district Mitchell represented for six years. In selecting Mitchell, the governor said he wanted someone who could take over for him if necessary. While both men are from Chicago and made their first campaign stop here, they'll soon be taking their message downstate.
'When you're a state rep. you don't just represent, you also are voting on things that are good for people all across the state,' Pritzker said.
'My first hearing when I was chair of the committee on Economic Opportunity was in Carbondale to talk about the impacts of higher education cuts in the previous administration on those towns. I plan to go everywhere, be everywhere, meet people where they are,' Mitchell added.
The path to securing statewide victory for a Democrat usually includes running up the vote totals among African Americans, making Bronzeville an obvious first campaign stop.
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