Illinois Gov. Jb Pritzker Tries To Chart A Path For National Democrats To Counter Trump

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker sits at a table surrounded by University of Illinois researchers who will soon be out of work, their lab set to lose its federal funding and close next month. One researcher, saying she feels betrayed by the government, turns to thank Pritzker.

"My husband sometimes shows me videos of you talking," says Aline Delpomdor, a research specialist at the university's Soybean Innovation Lab. "This was the first thing that gave me hope - that someone is speaking out. Somebody is defending us."

Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel empire, may seem like an unlikely champion for working-class people affected by the Trump administration. But he's taken aim at President Donald Trump's potential tax cuts , while backing universal health care and a higher federal minimum wage.

The governor used a statewide tour this past week to present a path forward for national Democrats struggling to unify around a strategy to counter the Republican president, highlighting the effects of Trump's early actions in Illinois. The three-day swing included meeting with farmers in a central Illinois barn to discuss agriculture and with older adults in suburban Chicago who are concerned about Social Security cuts.

While far from the center of power in Washington, the stops resemble those of a future presidential contender in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina.