Before and during the mid-2000s, Illinois politics revolved around a familiar mix of party power, patronage, and public scandal. One figure at the center of that system was Rod Blagojevich, a Chicago-born politician with a working-class background who rose through both state and federal offices before becoming governor in 2003.

Another was J.B. Pritzker, a wealthy businessman and heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, who during that same period chaired the Illinois Human Rights Commission from 2003 to 2006 under Blagojevich’s administration.