Gov. JB Pritzker accelerates abortion advocacy ahead of election
Illlinois Gov. JB Pritzker's Think Big America nonprofit group is helping fund abortion ballot initiatives in eight states.
CHICAGO — With a week until the Nov. 5 election, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a key Democratic surrogate and potential future presidential candidate, is making a last big push to help states attempting to advance their reproductive rights initiatives.
His nonprofit group, Think Big America — which has already invested millions of dollars in abortion-rights initiatives in four states — just expanded into four more states where questions are on the ballot: Maryland, South Dakota, Nebraska and Missouri, according to plans first shared with NBC News. In each case, the state has a ballot question about abortion rights.
The group previously donated seven figures separately in Arizona, Florida and Nevada, which all are attempting to codify abortion rights in their states. In the rest of the states, which also include Montana, the investments are in the six figures. Think Big would not provide more specifics about donation amounts; a recent filing in South Dakota revealed last week it gave $500,000.
Pritzker is on the road in battleground states campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as advocating to codify abortion rights in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and other states. Think Big has provided financial investment to the abortion-rights referendum efforts, as well as communications, political and research support.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's nonprofit group is helping fund pro-abortion-rights ballot measures around the country.Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images fileNationally, Democrats have pointed to the initiatives as a way to help drive voter turnout, and in deep-red Missouri, the proposed constitutional amendment would dismantle the current state law, which all but bans abortion.
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