Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson jabs Pritzker amid Bears saga: ‘I’m not a billionaire’
CHICAGO - Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responded to criticism from Gov. JB Pritzker over his last-minute push to keep the Bears at Soldier Field and referenced the governor’s wealth while continuing to argue that the team should not leave for the suburbs.
Johnson made the comments on Tuesday on The Matt McGill Show on WVON when he was asked to respond to Pritzker saying the mayor was "late to the game" as state lawmakers try to pass legislation the team wants to build a new stadium in Arlington Heights.
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What they're saying:
The mayor conceded that his approach to the issue wasn’t perfect, but argued that state lawmakers and the team pushing for the so-called "megaprojects" bill was "undermining" Chicago, which he referred to as the state’s "economic engine."
"Retrospectively, could I have approached things differently? Of course," Johnson said. "I’m always going to be retrospective about ‘Should have I said something differently?’ But even that, though, Matt, that’s not a reason to undermine the economic engine of the entire region."
Johnson appeared to argue that pushing for property tax breaks for the Bears was antithetical to lawmakers’ responsibility to their constituents. Then, the mayor referenced Pritzker’s wealth, which was pegged at nearly $4 billion, according to Forbes.
"The difference or the disconnect is, look, we do come from different experiences," Johnson said. "I’m not a billionaire. I’m not the heir of billions of dollars. I’m a working-class brotha that was teaching middle school a handful of years ago."
Johnson continued, "The real struggle that I experience, the governor and I had different upbringings. He doesn’t know what it’s like to open up a refrigerator and ain’t no food in it. He doesn’t know what it’s like to have a long orange extension cord from our window to our neighbor’s window just to keep electricity flowing."
The mayor has repeatedly slammed the legislative effort to provide significant property tax relief for the Bears, a corporation with about $8 billion, to build a private stadium. The Bears have played their home games at Soldier Field, which is owned by the Chicago Park District, since the early 1970s.
But the Bears said years ago that Soldier Field was no longer suitable to provide a prime experience for their fans. The team first began the purchase of the Arlington Park land back in 2021 and have gone back and forth over where to build a new stadium. At one point, Bears President Kevin Warren and Johnson announced an effort to build a new lakefront stadium, which would be mostly funded without taxpayer money.
Johnson appeared to reference that short-lived proposal in his comments on Tuesday, arguing it was the best deal for the people of Chicago.
But the Bears later said that plan was not economically feasible after lawmakers in Illinois were disinclined to give any taxpayer money for the construction of the actual stadium.
Still, Johnson has argued that losing the Bears would be a blow to the city’s economy and to workers and fans who live in the city. While the team has been clear that they will decide between Arlington Heights and Hammond, Indiana, Johnson has continued his push to keep the team in Chicago.
"To deny the people of Chicago an opportunity for our plan to be debated, that is malpractice, and it’s derelict of duty, and I’m always gonna fight for Chicago," he said. "I don’t care who you are. I’m going to fight … if it means protecting our people."