November 2, 2010 2014 → 46.8% 45.9% | 1,745,219 1,713,385 | |
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The 2010 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, sought and was elected to a full term. Quinn was elected as the Democratic nominee, the Illinois Green Party nominee was attorney and 2006 nominee Rich Whitney, the Republican nominee was State Senator Bill Brady, the Libertarian Party nominee was Lex Green, and Scott Lee Cohen ran as an independent. Governor Quinn won election to a full term in a very close race, beating Senator Brady by only about 32,000 votes, despite Brady winning in 98 of 102 Illinois counties.
Contents
Prior to the general election, the primary election in February 2010 featured extremely close races between candidates for the two largest parties' nominations. Quinn warded off a challenge by Comptroller Dan Hynes by a margin of about 8,300 votes, while Brady won the Republican nomination on the strength of less than a 200-vote margin in a fractured seven-way race.
The election marked the first time since 1852 that Democrats had won three consecutive Illinois gubernatorial elections.
Candidates
Debates
Democratic candidates Quinn and Hynes debated on January 19. WSIU Public Broadcasting (WSIU (FM)/WSIU-TV) at Southern Illinois University and Illinois Public Media (WILL AM/FM/TV) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign also co-sponsored two gubernatorial primary election debates. Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes debated on January 21, 2010.
Declared
Withdrew
Candidates
Candidates
Campaign
After the February 2 Democratic primary in which incumbent Governor Pat Quinn was re-nominated, attention was drawn to Scott Lee Cohen, the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor. Illinois law required that candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor run in separate primary elections, but run as a ticket in the November general election. Cohen was criticized for his having been charged with domestic battery, in which he was accused of holding a knife to the throat of an ex-girlfriend who was also a convicted prostitute. Cohen was also accused by his ex-wife of physical abuse and using illegally obtained anabolic steroids. Quinn and Dick Durbin, Illinois's senior U.S. Senator, both said that Cohen should withdraw his candidacy, which he did on February 7. Cohen ran as an independent candidate for the office of Governor against Quinn.
On March 27, 2010, the Democratic State Central Committee chose a replacement candidate, Sheila Simon. Dan Hynes, who placed second in the gubernatorial primary, denied interest in replacing Cohen on the ticket. Other names suggested included State Representative Art Turner, who placed second to Cohen in the Democratic primary and then finished second to Simon in committee balloting on March 27, 2010; State Senators Rickey Hendon and Terry Link, State Representative Mike Boland, and electrician Thomas Castillo, all of whom also ran in the primary; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official Tammy Duckworth; and State Representative Julie Hamos were suggested as possible replacements. Jeff Melvin, a 21-year retired Army veteran, also applied to the open nominating call for the Democratic Lieutenant Governor position.
Results
Even though Brady won 98 out of the 102 counties, Quinn narrowly prevailed. Brady won almost everywhere in the state. Brady even won all of the Chicago collar (suburban) counties. However Quinn's huge win in Cook County which encompasses the Chicago Metropolitan Area, proved too much for Brady to overcome. Quinn initially had a large lead when results first began to come in. This is due to the fact that heavily populated areas tend to report their votes faster. Once the more suburban and rural areas came in Brady narrowed the gap, to a very close race, but once again Cook County proved too much for Brady to overcome. Brady conceded defeat later the following day on November 3, when it became clear he would lose. Quinn's win was ranked by Politico as the 7th biggest upset of the 2010 elections. This was also unique in the fact that this marked one of the very few times that the Democrats had won the governor's office in Illinois three consecutive times in a row.