Govs. J.B. Pritzker, D-Ill. and Jared Polis, D-Colo., have formed a coalition of fellow state-level executives to resist “increasing threats of autocracy” and potential power grabs by a second Donald Trump administration. Members of the new “Governors Safeguarding Democracy” will harness their collective powers to “catalyze collaboration across state lines,” Pritzker said in a call with journalists reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
“It’s built off a model that all of us governors have already successfully pioneered through the Reproductive Freedom Alliance,” he said. “And together, what we’re doing is pushing back against increasing threats of autocracy and fortifying the institutions of democracy that our country and our states depend on.”
Pritzker, Polis and others like Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., have struck a defiant tone since Trump was elected president, promising to use all legal means at their disposal to protect their states against federal policies they deem harmful and unconstitutional. Last year, Pritzker formed Think Big America, a nonprofit aimed at passing abortion rights ballot initiatives.
GSD, the most encompassing iteration of state-level pushback against GOP rule in Washington, is supposed to be nonpartisan, but Pritzker and Polis did not mention any GOP participants in the press call. Despite the obvious shadow of Trump, his name was not mentioned, either.
“There’s been outreach to Republican........