By Illinois Review
Former Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin endorsed Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker for a third term Monday, breaking with Republican nominee Darren Bailey while working with a lobbying firm registered to represent dozens of clients – including corporations, utilities, government entities and other organizations with business before the state.
Durkin, who still identifies as a Republican, said he would not “throw away or waste a vote” on Bailey. He called Bailey’s campaign a “foolish escapade” and described his worldview as “delusional” and “egomaniacal.”
But Durkin is no longer just a former legislator.
Since leaving the Illinois House in January 2023, he has moved into government affairs. Durkin is affiliated with Point of Difference Strategies, a Chicago lobbying firm tied to 37 registered clients in Illinois.
That substantial portfolio includes some of the biggest names doing business in Illinois: AbbVie, United Airlines, Nicor Gas, Constellation Energy, the Chicago White Sox, the United Center and the Chicago Transit Authority.
The firm’s client roster also includes Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Franciscan Health, Superior Air-Ground Ambulance, Earthrise Energy, J-Power USA Development, Related Midwest, Prologis, the Village of Romeoville, College of DuPage and Joliet Junior College.
Other clients include Accel Entertainment, French lottery and gaming operator La Française des Jeux, artificial intelligence company Anthropic, HNTB Corporation and the Office of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor.
For clients like these, relationships with the governor’s office, state agencies and lawmakers can matter on legislation, regulation, procurement and other government decisions.
And Point of Difference Strategies has deep ties to the Pritzker administration.
The firm is led by Lisa Duarte, who previously served as Pritzker’s first assistant deputy governor for budget and economy. In that role, Duarte oversaw 17 state agencies and more than 170 boards and commissions before moving into the private-sector government affairs business.
Durkin is also partner at Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres, where Duarte is a name partner.
Pritzker’s running mate, Christian Mitchell, is also familiar to Durkin.
Mitchell served in the Illinois House from 2013 to 2019, overlapping with Durkin’s tenure as House Republican leader before leaving the legislature to become a Pritzker deputy governor.
He is now Pritzker’s nominee for lieutenant governor.
None of those relationships, by themselves, establish why Durkin chose to endorse Pritzker. But they are significant context for voters evaluating the endorsement.
Durkin now works alongside a lobbying operation representing 37 clients seeking to navigate Illinois government, while that firm is led by a former senior Pritzker official and Durkin publicly backs a ticket that includes a former House colleague who later served in the Pritzker administration.
Durkin’s campaign video tells voters whom he is supporting.
The lobbying disclosures show the interests represented by the firm where he works.
