Prairie State Wire

"That's the one I would want," J.B. Pritzker told then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich regarding the post of state treasurer, according to a conversation secretly taped by the FBI and transcribed in a Chicago Tribune article.

The conversation is the focus of a newly recently digital ad by the Illinois Republican Party. The ad features clips from statewide news stations reporting on the conversation.

“They were talking about campaign contributions in that conversation; they were talking about different options of Senate seats and the treasury,” ABC7 political analyst Laura Washington says in the video. “It was very unseemly.”

J.B. Pritzker

Blagojevich was later sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after being convicted of political corruption related to filling the Illinois Senate seat left vacant by then-President-elect Barack Obama, according to the Tribune.

"In the same wiretaps, Blagojevich pressed Pritzker for campaign contributions," the GOP said in a press release. "There is no doubt Pritzker's and Blagojevich's ties run deep. Illinoisans should be worried about what Pritzker will do if he's allowed to buy the governor's office just like he bought influence with Blagojevich."