Gubernatorial candidate doing damage control following tape release

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - Activist Jedidiah Brown demanded Thursday to join African-American ministers meeting in Hyde Park with Democratic candidate for governor, J.B. Pritzker.

Pritzker is still in damage-control mode.

This after the Chicago Tribune this week released another audio recording from 2008 of the Democratic candidate talking with former governor Rod Blagojevich about African-American politicians.

“I learned a lot listening. That's something I've tried to do throughout this campaign,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker was publicly upbeat after his latest meeting with a group of African-American leaders. 

The most recent audio recording from the Chicago Tribune includes Pritzker urging Blagojevich to appoint Jesse White to the U.S. Senate.
Pritzker calls the Illinois secretary of state the "least offensive" African-American contender, in contrast to former state senate president Emil Jones, called "crass."

By coincidence or not, Jones, who's endorsed Chris Kennedy for governor, showed up outside Pritzker's meeting.

“He should apologize for thinking that way about black leadership,” Jones said.

Pritzker's trying to shift the focus from what he said in 2008 to what he promises to do in 2019, if elected governor.

“Most importantly, I have a lifetime of work in the African-American community lifting people up. And, when I become governor, I'm going to do even more,” Pritzker said.

On the Republican side, Gov. Bruce Rauner and John Tillman, of the Illinois Policy Institute, used to be the most coo-some twosome in town. The magic is gone. They're now exchanging angry insults, Tillman calling him a failed governor; Rauner suggesting some of Tillman's financial dealings may have broken the law.

This comes after the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper and the non-profit news organization ProPublica reported Tillman steered money from non-profit tax-exempt groups, into companies he has a stake in.

Tillman says it's all legal.