Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday became the second high-profile Democrat to announce testing positive for COVID-19 after attending the Florida Democratic Party’s
“Leadership Blue” conference over the weekend.
Pritzker, who spoke Saturday night at the event, announced the test result in a news release. “After being notified of several close contacts testing positive for COVID-19, Gov. Pritzker received a positive test result during his routine COVID testing regimen,” the news release said.
Pritzker reported having mild symptoms and had been prescribed the antiviral medication Paxlovid. He was vaccinated and had received two booster shots.
U.S. Senate candidate Val Demings, a congresswoman from Orlando, a
nnounced Monday on Twitter she had tested positive. Demings, who is attempting to unseat U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said she was “isolating” and experiencing mild symptoms.
The Democrats’ event was held Friday through Sunday at a hotel in downtown Tampa and drew hundreds of guests, including gubernatorial candidates Charlie Crist and Nikki Fried. The Florida Democratic Party on Tuesday did not immediately answer a question from The News Service of Florida about whether it has learned of other attendees testing positive after the event.
