By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ population is so diverse that it’s a much better choice than Iowa or New Hampshire to kick off the primary season.

That’s what Gov. JB Pritzker says, anyway.

“We have great, terrific people in our state who represent all of the communities in the United States,” the governor said in Springfield Wednesday, “from Cairo to Rockford to Chicago. I think that means that we would be much more representative and would probably put forward candidates who are much better for both parties to be represented in the general election.”

This might be fun to talk about, but how serious is Pritzker about making this happen?

In an e-mail, Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said, “The Gov and team are talking with stakeholders involved and making the pitch to move things around. The DNC is expected to get the ball rolling this summer they put committees together to work on putting a schedule together for the next presidential election, so this won’t be a quick process but we want to get the conversation started.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].