Springfield, IL – Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker reported more than $1.4 million in gambling winnings last year, a disclosure that adds a striking new detail to the billionaire governor’s latest tax release as he campaigns for a third term.
Pritzker’s campaign on Wednesday made public partial tax records showing the governor and his wife, MK Pritzker, earned $10.3 million in taxable income for 2024.
That figure includes more than $1.4 million listed under “gambling income,” making it one of the largest such totals ever reported by an Illinois elected official.
It did not diclose how much money Pritzger lost on his gambling habit.
The campaign said the money came from casino activity, noting both winnings and losses were reported.
While the release followed Pritzker’s annual tradition of limited disclosure, it immediately drew attention for the unusual source of income.
Gambling gains amid campaign season
The multimillion-dollar windfall emerged just five months before Democratic primary voters head to the polls, injecting an unexpected twist into a campaign already defined by Pritzker’s vast personal fortune.
The governor, an heir to the Hyatt Hotels empire, does not take a state salary and has long used his wealth to bankroll political campaigns and Democratic initiatives across the country.
According to his campaign, the couple’s state taxable income tripled from the prior year, due largely to trust distributions that fluctuate annually. The governor’s trusts paid $4.5 million in state taxes and $30.2 million federally in 2024, according to the filing summary.
