* Gov. JB Pritzker was asked yesterday in southern Illinois about the people pushing counties to vote on seceding from Illinois and forming their own state or joining another one…

I think partisans and people who don’t support the fact that this is mostly a Democratic state, are looking for any way to get attention, and so they talk about and push the idea that somehow counties in Illinois are going to leave, get up and join another state. That’s not going to happen. That’s not how it works.

You know, if they really want to get involved, they should actually show up, vote, make sure that their voices are heard. I’ve done that my whole life. I think I’ve been in areas, lived in areas that were Republican controlled as a Democrat.

You’ve got to speak up. You’ve got to talk to people. I listen to Republicans all the time. You have a state Senator here, Dale Fowler, who’s been a partner of mine in bringing economic development to the area, bringing more investment in our state parks. And I’ve worked, we’ve worked closely together. We believe in, you know, that roads, state parks, these are not partisan endeavors. These are bipartisan things that everybody needs, no matter what party you belong to.

So, I’m going to continue to act in that fashion, and I’m sorry that people want to make a spectacle of themselves by claiming that they’re going to leave the state. Look, if you want to leave the state, I would like you to stay. I’d like you to get involved and make it a better place by working together with us. But if you want to leave, then get up and move. And there’s no chance that you’re going to pick up a county and have it join another state.

Discuss.