Gov. JB Pritzker delivered one of the most high-profile political speeches of his life two years ago at Chicago’s Democratic National Convention.
But now, two years later, Pritzker, 61, said he’s astounded to see photographs and video of that moment.
Pritzker is for the first time revealing publicly that he’s lost 80 pounds with the help of a GLP-1 weight-loss medication, with plans to lose more. The governor laid bare his previously undisclosed medical history in an hourlong interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, saying the “food noise” is gone with daily exercise and the injections fueling weight loss he didn’t think was possible.
“I honestly didn’t think about the fact that just two years ago at the Democratic convention, that I was 80 pounds heavier. I didn’t notice that except that now I’ve seen pictures or video of myself and now that I’ve had some success, I look in the mirror and I think about the videos and I think, ‘Wow, that’s quite a difference,’ ” Pritzker said. “And I guess other people see it, which is nice.”
For people who think Pritzker, a billionaire, has little to complain about — he has always battled with his weight.
“There are people who have it very easy their whole lives, and they’ve never struggled at all,” Pritzker said. “And I’m just not that person.”
Pritzker blames that in part on “bad genes.” He’s also been the target of weight-related attacks and AI-generated memes shared by President Donald Trump — including fake images of him devouring pizza and a burger. Trump also has repeatedly called him a “fat slob,” a reference the governor certainly remembers.
“I think that it’s funny to me now that the president still calls me a fat slob … and I wasn’t before, by the way. But I’ve been overweight. Oh, by the way, he’s overweight,” Pritzker said. “But I don’t really talk about that publicly … and it’s because I think it’s more like the content of your character that matters more, and I’ve always believed that. And that’s why I haven’t listened to people who say nasty things about me being overweight.”
He said he’s been on “every diet you could imagine” with no long-term success. But it wasn’t until a doctor diagnosed him with prediabetes, and later Type 2 diabetes, at age 58, that he began taking insulin — and ultimately a GLP-1 medication to help regulate his blood sugar.
Pritzker said it’s a “miracle” he didn’t have health problems before then.
“I’ve been testing myself regularly like people do when they go to the doctor. Maybe I would do it once a year and never have any problems. It’s almost a miracle, really,” Pritzker said. “If you think about the number of years being overweight — no glucose problem, no other problems.”
It was that diabetes diagnosis and insulin prescription that gave him a lifesaving wake-up call — and got him thinking about his own longevity.
Pritzker said the medication — combined with exercise and diet — has been so effective that he stopped taking insulin nine months ago, and his blood sugar levels have gone back to normal.
The Democratic governor’s weight loss has been gradual — but noticeable. In the early days, his suits sometimes looked like they were hanging off his body. He has since upgraded his smaller sized wardrobe.
He’s also frequently spotted walking several miles along Lake Michigan in the mornings — and he’s taken hundreds of questions about his weight, each time crediting his weight loss to his new exercise routine and declining to answer whether it was also fueled by a GLP-1 medication. He repeatedly called it a “private health matter.”
But more than two years into his new weight loss journey, the governor said he wants to talk about it openly, largely in part because he knows millions of Americans are suffering from obesity-related health conditions. He said he didn’t talk about it sooner because he wanted to make sure the weight loss stuck. The disclosure also comes just months before Democrats are expected to announce their intentions to run for president.
For now, the governor won’t take the presidential bait and said he’s focusing on winning his third term for governor in November.
“People want to tag that, but I mean really, really honestly … I might not be on a GLP-1 had I not walked into that doctor’s office or gotten that call, and so that really is what put me on the GLP-1,” Pritzker said. “And the fact that I’m losing weight, frankly, I would like to be around to have my children have children. So I can have grandchildren.”
The role his family health plays
Pritzker’s childhood included the deaths of both parents — his mother Sue was killed in a car accident when he was 17, and his father Donald died of a heart attack at 39, when Pritzker was just 7.
And that number — 39 — is something the Pritzker family, including the governor’s sister Penny and brother Tony, thinks about — especially since they’ve made it well past that young age.
Pritzker said his father had high cholesterol, high triglycerides and high blood pressure. He said the family was always aware there was a genetic possibility that one of them could suffer from alcoholism, as his mother did, though none did.
He said he paid attention “to not drinking too much” but wasn’t overly concerned about his heart health because his blood work results were consistently normal.
The governor was extremely candid about his relationship with food — describing himself as the guy who wants the whole cake, not just a piece.
“It’s still a struggle. It used to be that somebody would say, ‘We’ve got cake,’ or something, and, to me and I think to other people, but for me anyway, if you put a cake down and say, ‘Would you like some cake?’ Yeah, I want the whole cake or a box of cookies,” Pritzker said. “That was just how I would feel about it, and I don’t feel that way anymore. I still like — who doesn’t love cake and cookies? I love them, but I don’t feel like I need to have more than one, and most often I’m thinking, ‘I don’t want to do that because I want to lose weight tomorrow.’ ”
The food noise is gone, he said, crediting the medication.
“I really don’t walk around thinking when is the next time I need to or that I get to eat,” Pritzker said. “Now, it’s much more normal.”
State insurance covers Pritzker’s GLP-1 use
Pritzker, who started his injections in the spring of 2024, said his weight-loss medication is covered by the state’s insurance plan — but it’s attributable to his previous diabetes diagnosis, not specifically for weight loss.
Illinois expanded coverage for eligible state workers for medications like Wegovy, Mounjaro and Ozempic, in July 2023 under the state’s group health insurance program. The state’s expanded coverage cost the state $147 million in fiscal year 2025.
GLP-1 coverage previously was available for state workers who had been diagnosed with diabetes — but the expansion covered the drug for weight loss, with more drugs available.
“I put that policy in place before I ever thought I’d be on a GLP-1. Just want to be clear. I’m not trying to, I wasn’t trying to do something for myself here,” Pritzker said. “It really was a policy decision.”
Pritzker has defended the inclusion of the weight-loss injections into the state’s insurance plan, calling it “good for the taxpayers” for its ability to get diabetics off insulin.
“We brought down the cost of insulin for people long before we ever got to GLP-1s, but this actually allows people to — well I’m living proof that you can come off of them,” Pritzker said.
Despite praise for the drug’s effectiveness, the governor said he can’t rule out future cuts to coverage of the medication for weight loss due to budgetary constraints, saying, “of course virtually everything these days is on the table.”
“There are lots of things I don’t like having to do these days that we shouldn’t have to do, but they’re being forced upon us,” Pritzker said. ”And so, is that on some very long list of things we would have to consider? Possibly. But I really haven’t contemplated it until you just asked the question.”
The governor said expansion of the weight loss drugs to Medicaid recipients, however, is not currently feasible.
“We have so many other things that we need to do with dollars in the Medicaid system that I can’t imagine that this would be immediately something we could do, given all the circumstances of the federal government,” Pritzker said, “But I would love to do that. I mean, it’s not like people who are lower income don’t have exactly the same problems. It’s not like the Medicaid system couldn’t benefit.”
‘I don’t think it’s cheating’
On a drizzly September morning, Pritzker took a morning walk near 31st Street Beach. He was immediately spotted and chatted with two runners and later with two bird watchers from the the Nature Conservancy and Windy City Bird Lab.
Beyond the Lake Michigan walks, Pritzker said he’s using a recumbent bike in his office on rainy days, and also a treadmill, elliptical machines and whatever is available at hotel gyms. He hikes with his son and plays tennis with his daughter.
Pritzker defended his use of a GLP-1 drug and said it isn’t a shortcut or “like steroids for sports figures.” He is crediting it as the biggest difference maker in his lifelong quest to lose weight.
“I feel so much better than I have in a long time. I’m able to do things I haven’t done in a long time. So if there is this new opportunity to get healthy and in my case, it was driven by a true medical condition diagnosis … I don’t think it’s cheating,” Pritzker said. “I think it’s what I need to succeed.”