Posted on 02/07/2010 7:30:27 PM PST by FromLori
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 during the half time of the Super Bowl, saying he didn't want to "put the people of Illinois in jeopardy in any way."
Cohen made the tearful announcement at the Hop Haus tavern on the Far North Side. He spoke just hours after a spokesman for powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, the state Democratic chairman, said Madigan had urged Cohen to quit in a private meeting Friday.
"For the good of the people of the state of Illinois and for the Democratic party, I will resign," an emotional Cohen told a crowd of reporters.
Cohen's candidacy was widely perceived as a potential disaster for Gov. Pat Quinn and the rest of the Democratic ticket in the November general election.
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.
Cohen at first adamantly refused to quit, doing a series of media interviews to present his position that the allegations against him were overblown and that he had been transparent about his background when he first got in the race in early 2009. But he was drowned out by a chorus of Democratic
(Excerpt) Read more at newsblogs.chicagotribune.com ...
So, the voters picked the wrong candidate, and the Democrats want a do-over.
Isn’t this kind of the DNA for Democrats from Chicago?
Haven’t they already had their primary?
Quitter! What a dummy. Wasted $2 million of his own money for what?
I bet the Dems threatened to destroy him if he didn’t quit the race.
Yep. Bring in Lautenberg.
Since when is anything for the good of the people in Chicago?
or paid him....
payoff, bribes, threats, etc.??
Honestly, they’d like to just do away with the whole election thing, and just go back to the smoke-filled room method.
This looks like a two-fer. First, the voters choice is being stolen by the Dem party. Not gonna make them wanna vote for the D in the general. Second, the media destroyed their cred by hiding the truth about this candidate until after the election.
Reminds me of what the media did with zero
typical democrat
Damn, Cohen would have been a lot of fun.
Is he married? To Julianna Marguiles?
They made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
I don’t know sorry.
That’s a shame.
After only 17 beers? I guess he'll read the headlines in the morning. What a waste - of beer.
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