In Illinois, 99% of state bills passed by the Democratic supermajority become law with no objection by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Democracy suffers without checks and balances.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker rarely sees a bill he doesn’t like from his Democratic supermajority in the Illinois General Assembly, making him a rarity even among governors in Democrat-controlled states.
He ranked fifth-fewest vetoes of the 16 governors in states where Democrats control the governor’s mansion and both legislative chambers.
More than three-fourths of state governments are controlled by one party. With one party dominating the legislative process, the focus veers towards party wins rather than wins for the people.
One party controls 38 state governments across the United States.
States with a Republican-controlled government vetoed an average of 11 bills in 2025 while states with a Democrat-controlled government vetoed an average of 20 bills.
Despite the average Democrat-controlled state’s vetoes being double that of Republican-controlled states, Pritzker vetoed four bills in 2025.
Governors in other Democrat-controlled states are more critical of legislation. California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed 13.41% of his bills and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vetoed 17.95% of her bills.
In Republican-controlled states, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun vetoed no bills and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed 4.09% of bills.
With Pritzker vetoing less than 1% of bills, he not only lags his Democratic counterparts in holding the state legislature accountable, but he is continuing to fail the people of Illinois.
Pritzker’s consistently neglected his duties of checking the legislature and balancing legislation since taking office in 2019. His average veto ratio is 0.83%.
Pritzker is essentially a rubber stamp for Illinois’ Democratic supermajority, but that is a disservice to the people of Illinois. In 2018, he signed some of the most gerrymandered maps in the nation with little objection. In 2023, Illinois paid the highest property taxes across the nation. In 2025, Pritzker passed a $55.2 billion budget with a single line-item veto to correct a $161 million error in capital spending and signed a Chicago pension sweetener over objections from the city.
Pritzker needs to keep the interests of the people of Illinois in mind and not just be a head-nodder for his Democratic allies. It’s hard to believe Illinoisans really needed 436 new mandates out of Springfield this year.
