02-07-2010, 08:21 PM
Well he's out...
Cohen drops out of lt. gov. race
February 7, 2010 7:13 PM | 1 Comment | BREAKING STORY
Scott Lee Cohen, the pawnbroker whose surprise victory in last week's Democratic lieutenant governor primary was followed by scandalous revelations about him, quit the race tonight at the urging of party leaders.
Cohen made the tearful announcement at the Hop Haus tavern on the Far North Side.
"For the good of the people ...I will resign," he said, adding: "The last thing I ever, ever wanted to do was to put the people of Illinois in jeopardy in any way."
When Cohen became a candidate, he disclosed that a 2005 domestic battery charge against him had been dismissed. It was only after his victory Tuesday that the details became known: His girlfriend at the time, a prostitute, had accused him of holding a knife to her throat but had failed to appear in court, leading to charges being dropped.
More revelations followed last week: Cohen admitted injecting anabolic steroids, was accused of failing to pay child support even while he put at least $2 million into his campaign, and was identified as the target of dozens of lawsuits over back taxes.
The Tribune reported on its Web site Sunday afternoon that powerful Illinois House speaker and Democratic chairman Michael Madigan met with Cohen on Friday and urged him in a "very direct and very frank" way to drop his candidacy, according to Madigan aide Steve Brown.
Brown said he was unable to characterize Cohen's response to Madigan during the meeting in Madigan's Chicago law office. He said the meeting had previously been kept under wraps to avoid the appearance of backing Cohen into a corner.
But Brown said he believed the meeting should be publicized after Madigan was criticized for failing to do background checks on the candidates for lieutenant governor, including Cohen.
Brown said candidates do receive some form of vetting when the Democratic Party decides to slate, or endorse, candidates in the primary. But Democrats opted not to slate a candidate for lieutenant governor when none of the contenders was going to receive 60 percent of the weighted vote of the party's leadership, the Democratic State Central Committee, Brown said.
The lieutenant governor field was dominated by Democratic members of the legislature, making slating difficult. State Rep. Art Turner of Chicago, a member of Madigan's leadership team, was endorsed by the speaker. Others in the race were state Rep. Mike Boland of East Moline and state Sens. Terry Link of Waukegan and Rickey Hendon of Chicago. Thomas Castillo of Elmhurst also was a candidate.
During a face-to-face meeting with Cohen, the winner of the lieutenant governor nomination over five rivals in Tuesday's Democratic primary, Madigan was "very direct and very frank with the man" about getting out of the race, Brown said.
Among the other Democrats calling for Cohen to step down or seriously consider doing so were Gov. Pat Quinn, Sen. Dick Durbin and Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias.
--Rick Pearson and Kristen Schorsch
Cohen drops out of lt. gov. race
February 7, 2010 7:13 PM | 1 Comment | BREAKING STORY
Scott Lee Cohen, the pawnbroker whose surprise victory in last week's Democratic lieutenant governor primary was followed by scandalous revelations about him, quit the race tonight at the urging of party leaders.
Cohen made the tearful announcement at the Hop Haus tavern on the Far North Side.
"For the good of the people ...I will resign," he said, adding: "The last thing I ever, ever wanted to do was to put the people of Illinois in jeopardy in any way."
When Cohen became a candidate, he disclosed that a 2005 domestic battery charge against him had been dismissed. It was only after his victory Tuesday that the details became known: His girlfriend at the time, a prostitute, had accused him of holding a knife to her throat but had failed to appear in court, leading to charges being dropped.
More revelations followed last week: Cohen admitted injecting anabolic steroids, was accused of failing to pay child support even while he put at least $2 million into his campaign, and was identified as the target of dozens of lawsuits over back taxes.
The Tribune reported on its Web site Sunday afternoon that powerful Illinois House speaker and Democratic chairman Michael Madigan met with Cohen on Friday and urged him in a "very direct and very frank" way to drop his candidacy, according to Madigan aide Steve Brown.
Brown said he was unable to characterize Cohen's response to Madigan during the meeting in Madigan's Chicago law office. He said the meeting had previously been kept under wraps to avoid the appearance of backing Cohen into a corner.
But Brown said he believed the meeting should be publicized after Madigan was criticized for failing to do background checks on the candidates for lieutenant governor, including Cohen.
Brown said candidates do receive some form of vetting when the Democratic Party decides to slate, or endorse, candidates in the primary. But Democrats opted not to slate a candidate for lieutenant governor when none of the contenders was going to receive 60 percent of the weighted vote of the party's leadership, the Democratic State Central Committee, Brown said.
The lieutenant governor field was dominated by Democratic members of the legislature, making slating difficult. State Rep. Art Turner of Chicago, a member of Madigan's leadership team, was endorsed by the speaker. Others in the race were state Rep. Mike Boland of East Moline and state Sens. Terry Link of Waukegan and Rickey Hendon of Chicago. Thomas Castillo of Elmhurst also was a candidate.
During a face-to-face meeting with Cohen, the winner of the lieutenant governor nomination over five rivals in Tuesday's Democratic primary, Madigan was "very direct and very frank with the man" about getting out of the race, Brown said.
Among the other Democrats calling for Cohen to step down or seriously consider doing so were Gov. Pat Quinn, Sen. Dick Durbin and Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias.
--Rick Pearson and Kristen Schorsch