U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi rallied with Illinois Democrats Wednesday in Springfield.
She was the keynote speaker at one of the party鈥檚 biggest annual meetings 鈥� the Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association brunch.
Democrats spent the morning in a packed hotel ballroom celebrating their state legislative accomplishments. Gov. J.B. Pritzker listed them off, including raising the minimum wage, legalizing marijuana, and passing a big infrastructure plan.
Pelosi said she came to 鈥渃atch the spark鈥� of Illinois.
鈥淎s you can see from what the governor presented ... a mainstream agenda can be a progressive agenda,鈥� Pelosi said.
Pelosi acknowledges she鈥檚 a lightning rod for Republican criticism, but says the fact that Democrats were nevertheless able to retake the U.S. House last year shows that tactic doesn鈥檛 work.
鈥淩epublicans had 137,000 ads ... ads, not dollars ... describing me as a San Francisco liberal, which I proudly am,鈥� Pelosi told reporters in a brief news conference after the meeting. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 work.鈥�
Meanwhile, Pritzker seemed to suggest Democrats have grown more confident in pursuing their agenda.
鈥淭he days of trying to shame Democrats for fighting for social and economic justice for working families? Well those days are over,鈥� Pritzker said.
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