South Cook News

State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) believes his constituents are "a lot worse off" under the leadership of Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) who – in one study – was ranked among the worst governors in the nation for COVID mitigations.

The Brownstone Institute released a study in late January that ranked governors from every state using COVID-19 data during the first 13 months of the pandemic. Pritzker was placed in the "complete fail" category. 

"He [Pritzker] just seems to get drunk on power and thinks he's the ultimate authority on everything." Miller told South Cook News.

Pritzker was joined by other Democratic governors in that category including former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, California's Gavin Newsome, Gretchen Whitmer from Michigan, and Pennsylvania's Tom Wolf.

"There's a special place for governors that locked kids out of classrooms for a year and a half, ordered sick COVID-19 patients back into nursing homes, did not practice their own orders, shut down tens of thousands of businesses and still couldn't beat the U.S. average in COVID-19 deals or excess all-cause deaths," the report stated.

Miller believes Pritzker's excessive executive orders didn't help with the state's pandemic response.

"I think that was the beginning of a house of cards that folded on him," Miller said. "I think any time that you want to be a dictator is always a bad decision because as Proverbs say, in a multitude of counselors there is wisdom," Miller said.

In November, Pritzker said his wife and daughter would be spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Florida and remain there "indefinitely," WIFR reported. 

Miller said he believes their decision to stay in the Sunshine State "says a lot" about Pritzker's leadership. 

According to Prairie State Wire, Pritzker's daughter spent New Year's Eve partying maskless in the Bahamas as her father told the people of Illinois to cancel their holiday plans.