Governor Bruce Rauner attempted to reset his election campaign Thursday.
Rauner gathered about 65 supporters in a hotel ballroom in downtown Chicago.
A campaign speech is nothing new, but this was more formal — he wore a suit and used a teleprompter.
Rauner also departed from his longstanding practice of rarely acknowledging setbacks or mistakes. He says he came into office believing he could aggressively “shock” state government into shape.
“I underestimated how difficult change can be in government."
Rauner acknowledged problems with his time in office — like the two-year budget stalemate. But he framed that as a fight for HIS ideas about reform, which he said required “courage.”
“I may have overdone it on the courage part at times — politically — because I was more focused on doin’ what was right.”
Pritzker quickly issued a statement in response. He says Rauner’s problem is not too much courage, but rather “that he spent four years refusing to compromise.”
