The governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker’s latest tax records show that he’s a bit of a betting man, with more than 10 percent of his income coming from what is described as gambling winnings at casinos in the most recent reporting year.

Mr. Pritzker’s partial tax records indicate that he and his wife earned more than $10.3 million in taxable income in 2024, including more than $1.4 million from gambling. The records were released in advance of the state’s Democratic Party primary in March 2026. 

Mr. Pritzker, who has not taken a salary from the state since taking office in 2019 and holds a sizable portion of his wealth in trusts tied to his family’s stake in the Hyatt hotel chain, has repeatedly declined to release his tax records in the past.

According to tax return records for 2024, Mr. Pritzker and his wife, Mary Kathryn, declared $1.425 million in “gambling” income. When asked to provide more information, a campaign official told the Chicago Tribune, “The Governor had winnings and losses from a casino during the year and those amounts are reported on his tax return.”

During a news conference at Chicago Thursday, the governor said he won the money playing blackjack during a single trip to La Vegas with his wife and some friends that year. “I like to play cards,” he said.

“I was incredibly lucky. You have to be to end up ahead, frankly, going to a casino anywhere,” he said. “Anybody who’s played cards in a casino knows you often play for too long and lose whatever it is that you won. I was fortunate enough to have to leave before that happened.”

A spokesman said he plans to donate the winnings to charity, but offered no further details.

The governor and his wife reported $10.3 million in taxable income for 2024, marking their highest total in recent years. Their reported income was $3.2 million in 2023 and $2.3 million in 2022. In 2021, the Pritzker’s declared $18.5 million in state taxable income, with capital gains accounting for the bulk of that amount at $11.3 million, according to the Tribune.

When questioned about why their state taxable income tripled compared to the previous year, the campaign official said that “certain trusts make distributions each year, and the taxable income associated with those distributions changes from year to year based on the performance of trust assets.”

In 2024, the trusts that benefit the governor paid $4.5 million in state taxes and $30.2 million in federal taxes. The previous year, according to the campaign, the Pritzker trusts paid $10 million to the state and approximately $50 million to the federal government. However, those 2023 returns were not made available to the public.

Mr. Pritzker has often used his personal fortune to bankroll his political campaigns as well as other Democratic causes across the country. Most of his wealth is in trusts stateside and abroad.

He has referred to the arrangement as a “blind trust” and said he has no authority over investment decisions. He has pledged that when he leaves office, he will conduct a final review of any returns earned from investments in companies that received state contracts and donate an equivalent amount to charity.