2010 Illinois gubernatorial election

The 2010 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Quinn was elected to a full term in office, having become governor in 2009 following the impeachment and removal of Governor Rod Blagojevich.[1] Quinn was elected as the Democratic nominee,[2] 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. Quinn was elected to a full term in a very close race, defeating Brady by only about 32,000 votes, even though Brady carried 98 of the state's 102 counties.[3]

2010 Illinois gubernatorial election
November 2, 2010
Turnout49.69% 2.40 pp
 
Nominee Pat Quinn Bill Brady
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Sheila Simon Jason Plummer
Popular vote 1,745,219 1,713,385
Percentage 46.8% 45.9%
County results
Quinn:      40–50%      60–70%
Brady:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election

Pat Quinn
Democratic

 Elected Governor

Pat Quinn
Democratic

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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.[4] This is also the first Illinois gubernatorial election since 1990 in which the winner was of the same party as the incumbent president.

Election information

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal elections (Senate and House), as well as those for other state offices. The election was part of the 2010 Illinois elections.

Turnout
See also: 2010 Illinois elections § Turnout

For the primaries, turnout for the gubernatorial primaries was 22.21%, with 1,688,297 votes cast and turnout for the lieutenant gubernatorial primaries was 20.10% with 1,527,782 votes cast.[5][6] For the general election, turnout was 49.69%, with 3,729,989 votes cast.[5][6]

Democratic primaries

Candidates

Debates

Democratic candidates Quinn and Hynes debated on January 19.[7] 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.[8][9] Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes debated on January 21, 2010.[10]

Polling
Poll source Dates administered Pat
Quinn		 Lisa
Madigan		 Dan
Hynes		 Undecided
Public Policy Polling January 26, 2010 40% – 41% 19%
Chicago Tribune January 16–20, 2010 44% – 40% 15%
Chicago Tribune December 2–8, 2009 49% – 23% 23%
Simon Public Policy October 16, 2009 33.9% – 16.5% 35.4%
Public Policy Polling April 24–26, 2009 29% 45% – 26%

Results
County results
Democratic gubernatorial primary results[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Pat Quinn (incumbent) 462,049 50.46
Democratic Daniel Hynes 453,677 49.54
Total votes 915,726 100.00

Candidates

Results
Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary results[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Scott Lee Cohen 213,475 25.97
Democratic Arthur Turner 183,208 22.29
Democratic Rickey R. Hendon 113,690 13.83
Democratic Mike Boland 105,867 12.88
Democratic Thomas Michael Castillo 105,383 12.82
Democratic Terry Link 100,335 12.21
Total votes 821,958 100.00

Aftermath

Scott Lee Cohen was replaced as the Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial nominee by Sheila Simon after he withdrew due to allegations of abuse toward his wife and other charges.[12]

Republican primaries
Declared
Withdrew

Results
County results
Republican gubernatorial primary results[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bill Brady 155,527 20.26
Republican Kirk Dillard 155,334 20.24
Republican Andy McKenna 148,054 19.29
Republican Jim Ryan 130,785 17.04
Republican Adam Andrzejewski 111,030 14.47
Republican Dan Proft 59,335 7.73
Republican Bob Schillerstrom 7,420 0.97
Total votes 767,485 100.00

Candidates

Withdrawn

Results
Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary results[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jason Plummer 238,169 33.98
Republican Matt Murphy 233,572 33.33
Republican Don Tracy 80,116 11.43
Republican Brad Cole 61,317 8.75
Republican Dennis W. Cook 55,339 7.90
Republican Randy A. White, Sr. 32,343 4.61
Total votes 700,856 100.00

Green primaries

Candidates

Results
Green Party primary results[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Green Rich Whitney 5,086 100.00
Total votes 5,086 100.00

Candidates
  • Don Crawford

Results
Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary results[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Green Don W. Crawford 4,968 33.98
Total votes 4,968 100.00

General election

Candidates
  • Pat Quinn (Democratic) (campaign website): Incumbent governor who assumed office after the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich; sought a full term in 2010.[1] Quinn was previously Revenue Director for the City of Chicago, state treasurer (1990-1994), and an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator (1996), Illinois Secretary of State (1994), and lieutenant governor (1998).
  • Bill Brady (Republican) (campaign website): state senator, real estate and construction businessman, unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for governor in 2006[13]
  • Rich Whitney (Green): Illinois Green Party's 2006 nominee for governor
  • Lex Green (Libertarian) (archived campaign website): Secretary of the McLean County Libertarian Party[14]
  • Scott Lee Cohen (Independent): former Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2010 who was replaced by Sheila Simon after withdrawing due to allegations of abuse toward his wife and other charges. Cohen was reported to have been in a private meeting with Speaker Michael Madigan discussing his plan for running against Quinn.[12]

Campaign

After the February 2 Democratic primary in which incumbent Governor Pat Quinn was 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.[15] Quinn and Dick Durbin, Illinois's senior U.S. Senator, both said that Cohen should withdraw his candidacy,[16][17] which he did on February 7.[18] Cohen ran as an independent candidate for the office of governor against Quinn.[12]

On March 27, 2010, the Democratic State Central Committee chose a replacement candidate, Sheila Simon.[19][20] Dan Hynes, who placed second in the gubernatorial primary, denied interest in replacing Cohen on the ticket.[20] 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.[20] Jeff Melvin, a 21-year retired army veteran, also applied to the open nominating call for the Democratic lieutenant governor position.[21]

Predictions
Source Ranking As of
Cook Political Report Lean R[22] October 28, 2010
Rothenberg Toss up/tilt R[23] October 28, 2010
RealClearPolitics Toss up[24] October 28, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball Leans R[25] October 28, 2010
CQ Politics Leans R[26] October 28, 2010

Polling
Poll source Dates
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Pat
Quinn (D)		 Bill
Brady (R)		 Rich
Whitney (G)		 Other Unde-
cided
Fox News () October 23, 2010 1,000 ± 3.0% 39% 44% 4% 7% 6%
Chicago Tribune () October 18–22, 2010 700 ± 3.7% 39% 43% 4% 7% 6%
Rasmussen Reports () October 20, 2010 750 ± 4.0% 37% 45% 2% 7% 8%
Rasmussen Reports (report) October 12, 2010 750 ± 4.5% 40% 46% 2% 9% 3%
Southern Illinois University () September 30 – October 10, 2010 — ± 3.5% 29.8% 38.4% 2.2% 5.9% -
Rasmussen Reports (report) October 4, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 38% 46% 4% 5% 8%
Suffolk University (report) September 30 – October 3, 2010 500 ±4.4% 43% 37% 3% 8% 8%
(Public Policy Polling) September 30, 2010 470 ±4.5% 35% 42% 4% 8% 11%
Chicago Tribune (report) September 24–28, 2010 600 ±4% 39% 38% 3% 8% 12%
CNN/TIME (report) September 24–28, 2010 1,504 ±2.5% 38% 40% 4% 16% 2%
We Ask America () September 13, 2010 1,050 ±2.70% 32% 42% 4% – 16%
Rasmussen Reports (report) September 12, 2010 750 ±4.0% 37% 50% 4% 7% 3%
Chicago Tribune (report) Aug. 28 – Sept. 1, 2010 600 ±4.0% 32% 37% 2% – 19%
Rasmussen Reports (report) August 23, 2010 750 ±4.0% 37% 46% – 6% 11%
Public Policy Polling (report) August 14–15, 2010 576 ±4.1% 30% 39% 11% – 6%
Rasmussen Reports (report) August 9, 2010 750 ±4.0% 35% 48% – 6% 12%
Rasmussen Reports (report) July 27, 2010 750 ±4.0% 37% 44% – 11% 9%
Rasmussen Reports (report) July 7, 2010 500 ±4.5% 40% 43% – 9% 8%
Public Policy Polling (report) June 12–13, 2010 552 ±4.2% 30% 34% 9% – 27%
Rasmussen Reports (report) June 7, 2010 500 ±4.5% 36% 47% – 8% 10%
Research 2000 (report) May 3–5, 2010 600 ±4.0% 36% 39% – – 25%
We Ask America () May 2, 2010 1,050 ±3.02% 31.15% 46.25% 4.81% – 17.79%
Rasmussen Reports (report) April 28, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 38% 45% – 5% 11%
Rasmussen Reports () April 8, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 38% 45% – 7% 10%
Public Policy Polling (report) April 5, 2010 591 ± 4.0% 33% 43% – – 24%
We Ask America () March 10, 2010 798 3.5% 31.58% 44.61% 3.51% – 20.30%
Rasmussen Reports (report) March 8, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 37% 47% – 6% 9%
Research 2000 (report) February 22 –24, 2010 600 ± 4.0% 47% 32% – 1% 20%
The Illinois Poll () February 7, 2010 1,200 ± 2.8% 42% 31% – 4% 23%
Rasmussen Reports (report) December 14, 2009 500 ± 4.5% 45% 30% – 13% 13%

Results

Even though Brady won 98 out of the 102 counties, Quinn narrowly prevailed. Brady won almost everywhere in the state, including all of the Chicago collar (suburban) counties. 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), however, once the more suburban and rural areas came in Brady narrowed the gap significantly. Quinn's huge win in Cook County, which encompasses the Chicago Metropolitan Area proved too much for Brady to overcome, however. 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 election also marked one of the very few times that the Democrats had won the governor's office in Illinois three consecutive times in a row.

2010 Illinois gubernatorial election[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Pat Quinn (incumbent) 1,745,219 46.79% -3.00%
Republican Bill Brady 1,713,385 45.94% +6.68%
Independent Scott Lee Cohen 135,705 3.64% n/a
Green Rich Whitney 100,756 2.70% -7.66%
Libertarian Lex Green 34,681 0.93% n/a
Total votes 3,729,746 100.00% n/a
Democratic hold

See also

References
  1. Sweet, Lynn (2009-02-24). "Gov. Pat Quinn to run in 2010. 'I think I am doing a good job today'". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago. Archived from the original on 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2009-05-29. 'I have no reason not to run,' Quinn told me when I asked him about the 2010 election
  2. Long, Ray (2010-02-04). "Hynes concedes Dem governor race to Quinn". Chicago Tribune. Chicago. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  3. "Ballots Cast". Elections.il.gov. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  4. fr:Résultats des élections des gouverneurs dans l'Illinois
  5. "Voter Turnout". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  6. "Election Results". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  7. VIDEO: Democrats running for governor debate Archived 2010-03-10 at the Wayback Machine, ABC7 Chicago, January 19, 2010
  8. Public media to air gubernatorial debates in January The News-Gazette, December 30, 2009 Archived January 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Illinois Public Media, WSIU Host Gubernatorial Debate". WILL Press Room (Press release). Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois. 2010-01-12. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  10. WSIU Prepares Voters For February 2nd Primary Election Archived 2011-10-07 at the Wayback Machine, WSIU
  11. "Ballots Cast". Elections.illinois.gov. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  12. "Official: Scott Lee Cohen to run for governor". Archived from the original on April 27, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  13. State Journal-Register via Associated Press (2008-11-07). "Bill Brady says he will run for Governor". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
  14. "Lex Green for Governor of Illinois in 2010". Electlex.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  15. Secter, Bob; Heinzmann, David; Kidwell, David (February 7, 2010). "Behind the man who could be lieutenant governor". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  16. Pallasch, Abdon M.; McKinney, Dave (February 4, 2010). "Lt. gov. nominee: I won't drop out of race over abuse history". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  17. Esposito, Stefano; Sweet, Lynn; Hussain, Rummana; Konkol, Mark J. (February 6, 2010). "Source: Cohen seeking 'honorable way' to drop out". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  18. Isenstadt, Alex (February 7, 2010). "Illinois lieutenant governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen withdraws". The Politico. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  19. "Clout St: Democrats pick Simon as Quinn's running mate". Newsblogs.chicagotribune.com. 2010-03-27. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  20. "Hynes not interested in Illinois". Blogs.suntimes.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-20. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  22. "2010 Governors Race Ratings". Cook Political Report. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  23. "Governor Ratings". Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  24. "2010 Governor Races". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  25. "THE CRYSTAL BALL'S FINAL CALLS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  26. "Race Ratings Chart: Governor". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on October 5, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  27. "General Election of November 2, 2010" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
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