Governor Pritzker is officially aiming for a second term and is promoting large spending initiatives for a possible second term. The governor kicked off his re-election campaign yesterday with a video on social media touting his leadership of the state through the COVID-19 pandemic. But Republican opponents took the opportunity to beat up a “disastrous” term in office.

Pritzker had previously said he wanted to consult with his family about the decision as they, especially his teenage children, have been under scrutiny by critics of his COVID response. But Pritzker said they all agreed with the decision.

The governor officially announced the announcement via a campaign video on social media that focused solely on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. But today, the governor says that despite his administration’s once-in-a-lifetime event, voters should pay attention to what his administration has accomplished.

“We have made great progress anyway,” said Pritzker. “Think about raising the minimum wage and lifting a million people out of poverty. We have expanded healthcare across the country. We let people work, build roads, bridge schools and bring order to our finance house. ”

On an agenda for the second term, the governor announced the same priorities that President Biden and the National Democrats have pushed – things like expanded childcare loans, universal pre-K, and free college tuition for Illinois families on the median income to reach.

“Early childhood education and childcare in our country must be expanded,” said Pritzker. “I think anyone who is certainly middle income and below can go to college for free.”

Pritzker was non-binding in the prospect of again pushing for a constitutional amendment to introduce a graduated income tax in order to generate new income for these initiatives after a similar initiative failed last year.

“I’ve always wanted to lower taxes for the middle class and ask the richest to pay a little more,” said Pritzker. “And while we couldn’t do it with fair taxes, we cut corporate welfare by $ 655 million in this last budget. That goes a long way towards reducing the structural deficit we have in the state and shifting some of it to college costs and ensuring we expand childcare and early childhood. ”

Pritzker poured a staggering $ 35 million from his personal fortune into his campaign fund earlier this year. There are three Republican candidates who ran: State Senator Darren Bailey (R. Louisville), who took the governor to court over COVID-19 restrictions, Gary Rabine from suburban Chicago, and former State Senator Paul Schimpf.

All three took the opportunity to criticize the governor’s handling of COVID 19 and the resulting economic consequences.

“What I do know is that the Illinois economy is in tatters,” said Bailey. “We have small businesses all over this state that are suffering because it allows people to sit down and continue receiving unemployment benefits when there are many job opportunities.”

“Governor Pritzker has raised taxes, increased spending and enacted some of the nation’s most radical, left-wing laws,” Rabine said in a written statement. “When Pritzker didn’t get his income tax increase, he hiked taxes and regulations at a record pace to dominate America’s most highly taxed citizens.”

And in a written statement from candidate Schimpf:

“Under the Pritzker leadership deficit, he has failed to stand up to corruption, fail to protect our veterans and families, and fail to help the overwhelmed Illinois people. In three years JB Pritzker has proven that he has neither the vision nor the leadership skills to unite our country. ”

But the governor says he took steps to protect the state and prepare it for a recovery when his critics advocated doing nothing.

“These are the people who voted against family support, like expanding housing support and expanding small business support across the state during the pandemic,” he said.

Check out the full, unedited video of our one-on-one interview with the governor below.

Follow Paris Schutz on Twitter: @paschutz