WayneChesson (@WayneChesson)

THIS IS HUGE: JB Pritzker is refusing to sit on the sidelines. He’s just announced his intention to crush the Republican Party once and for all. Pritzker just announced he is launching a massive $20 MILLION PAC aimed at taking on some of the most extreme Republican candidates in the country this midterm season — and the scale of what he’s doing deserves a lot more attention. Think about this. Pritzker could have taken the easy route. He could have focused entirely on Illinois. He could have poured every ounce of his energy, money, and political operation into his own race and ignored everything happening beyond his state’s borders. Nobody would have been surprised. But that’s not what he’s doing. Instead, Pritzker is putting $20 million behind an effort that reaches far beyond his own political future — including state and local races that too often get completely ignored by the national media. And that could be a very big deal. Because elections aren’t just about who controls Congress or who wins the biggest governor’s race on television. State legislatures matter. Local officials matter. Attorneys general matter. Secretaries of state matter. The people elected in these races can shape everything from abortion rights and voting laws to education, labor protections, and economic policy. Pritzker clearly understands that. While plenty of politicians spend election season protecting their own careers, Pritzker is trying to build political power well beyond his own race and help Democrats compete up and down the ballot. That makes this $20 million announcement about much more than one PAC. It’s a statement about how Pritzker intends to operate nationally. He could have watched from the sidelines. Instead, he’s jumping directly into the fight — with $20 million behind him.