2010 Illinois gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2010 United States gubernatorial elections.

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.

2010 Illinois gubernatorial election

← 2006 November 2, 2010 2014 →
Turnout	49.69% 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 46.79% 45.94%
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

Quinn was elected to a full term in a very close race, defeating Brady by only about 32,000 votes with Brady carrying 98 of the state's 102 counties.^[3] 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 fewer than 200 votes in a fractured seven-way race. This was the first time Gallatin County went Republican at the gubernatorial level since 1920. The election marked the first time since 1852 that the Democrats won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in Illinois.^[4] This is also the first gubernatorial election since 1990 in which the winner was of the same party as the incumbent president.

Background

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.

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 primary

Quinn defeated Hynes by just under 9,000 votes, while Cohen won an upset over establishment candidates by just over 3% campaigning as a political outsider.^[7]

Governor

Candidates

• Daniel Hynes, Illinois State Comptroller and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2004
• Pat Quinn, incumbent governor

Debates

Democratic candidates Quinn and Hynes debated on January 19.^[8] 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.^[9][10] Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes debated on January 21, 2010.^[11]

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Pat Quinn	Lisa Madigan	Dan Hynes	Undecided
Public Policy Polling[12]	January 26, 2010	40%	–	41%	19%
Chicago Tribune[13]	January 16–20, 2010	44%	–	40%	15%
Chicago Tribune[14]	December 2–8, 2009	49%	–	23%	23%
Simon Public Policy[15]	October 16, 2009	33.9%	–	16.5%	35.4%
Public Policy Polling[16]	April 24–26, 2009	29%	45%	–	26%

Results

County results

Democratic gubernatorial primary results^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Pat Quinn (incumbent)	462,049	50.46
	Democratic	Daniel Hynes	453,677	49.54
Total votes			915,726	100.00

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

• Mike Boland, member of the Illinois House of Representatives
• Thomas Michael Castillo
• Scott Lee Cohen, Pawnbroker^[18]
• Rickey R. Hendon, Illinois State Senator
• Terry Link, Illinois State Senator
• Arthur Turner, member of the Illinois House of Representatives

Results

Primary results by county:

Cohen

•   Cohen—41-50%
•   Cohen—31-40%
•   Cohen—21-30%

Turner

•   Turner—21-30%

Boland

•   Boland—61-70%
•   Boland—51-60%
•   Boland—41-50%
•   Boland—31-40%
•   Boland—21-30%

Castillo

•   Castillo—31-40%
•   Castillo—21-30%

Link

•   Link-41-50%
•   Link-31-40%
•   Link-21-30%

Tie

•   Tie between Cohen and Boland-27%

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 former Carbondale City Councilwoman Sheila Simon after he withdrew due to allegations of abuse toward his wife and other charges.^[19]

Republican primary

As on the Democratic side, both the gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial primaries were extremely close, though moreso. Brady defeated Dillard by 0.02%, while Plummer defeated Murphy by just 0.65%.

Governor

Candidates

Declared

• Adam Andrzejewski, businessman
• Bill Brady, State Senator and candidate for governor in 2006
• Kirk Dillard, State Senator
• Andy McKenna, businessman, former chairman of the Republican Party of Illinois and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2004
• Dan Proft, political commentator
• Jim Ryan, former Attorney General of Illinois and nominee for governor in 2002

Withdrew

• Bob Schillerstrom, chairman of the DuPage County Board

Results

County results

Republican gubernatorial primary results^[17]

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

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

• Dennis W. Cook, President of Consolidated District 230 Board of Education
• Brad Cole, mayor of Carbondale
• Matt Murphy, Illinois State Senator
• Jason Plummer, chairman of the Madison County Republican Party
• Don Tracy, corporate attorney
• Randy A. White Sr., Hancock County Commissioner

Withdrawn

• Dave Winters, Illinois State Representative

Results

  Plummer

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%

  Murphy

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50-60%

  Tracy

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   80–90%

  Cole

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%

  White

•   30-40%

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 primary

Governor

Candidates

• Rich Whitney, nominee for governor in 2006^[17]

Results

Green Party primary results^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Green	Rich Whitney	5,086	100.00
Total votes			5,086	100.00

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

• Don Crawford

Results

Green 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^[20]
• Rich Whitney (Green): Illinois Green Party's 2006 nominee for governor^{[citation needed]}
• Lex Green (Libertarian) (archived campaign website): Secretary of the McLean County Libertarian Party^[21]
• 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.^[19]

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.^[22] Quinn and Dick Durbin, Illinois's senior U.S. Senator, both said that Cohen should withdraw his candidacy,^[23][24] which he did on February 7.^[25] Cohen ran as an independent candidate for the office of governor against Quinn.^[19]

On March 27, 2010, the Democratic State Central Committee chose a replacement candidate, Sheila Simon.^[26][27] Dan Hynes, who placed second in the gubernatorial primary, denied interest in replacing Cohen on the ticket.^[27] 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.^[27] Jeff Melvin, a 21-year retired army veteran, also applied to the open nominating call for the Democratic lieutenant governor position.^[28]

At one point during the campaign, Quinn, struggling to make up ground amidst poor polling numbers against Brady, accused his Republican opponent of supporting a bill to kill puppies. In fact, the bill regulated shelters' practices when they euthanize animals.^[29] Quinn struggled to shake off Blagojevich's scandals, leading to poor approval ratings throughout the campaign, despite Quinn denouncing Blagojevich.^[30] Quinn trailed Brady by more than 10 points at times, despite Illinois being a deeply Democratic state.

A central issue in the campaign was the state income tax. Quinn advocated for a one percentage point – or 33 percent – increase in the state's income tax to primarily fund education, while Brady called for a 10 percent across the board cut in state government and placing the State Board of Education under the governor's control.^[31]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Cook Political Report[32]	Tossup	October 14, 2010
Rothenberg[33]	Tilt R (flip)	October 28, 2010
RealClearPolitics[34]	Tossup	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[35]	Lean R (flip)	October 28, 2010
CQ Politics[36]	Lean D	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 ( Archived January 26, 2016, at the Wayback Machine)	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 collar counties of the Chicago suburbs. Quinn initially had a large lead when results first began to come in, as 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 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.

2010 Illinois gubernatorial election^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Pat Quinn (incumbent)/Sheila Simon	1,745,219	46.79%	−3.00%
	Republican	Bill Brady/Jason Plummer	1,713,385	45.94%	+6.68%
	Independent	Scott Lee Cohen	135,705	3.64%	n/a
	Green	Rich Whitney/Donald Crawford	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

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Hamilton (Largest city: McLeansboro)
• Pope (Largest city: Golconda)
• Randolph (Largest city: Chester)
• Saline (Largest city: Harrisburg)
• Will (Largest city: Joliet)
• Williamson (Largest city: Marion)
• Winnebago (Largest city: Rockford)
• Franklin (Largest city: West Frankfort)
• LaSalle (Largest city: Ottawa)
• Boone (largest city: Belvidere)
• Madison (largest city: Granite City)
• Mercer (largest city: Aledo)
• Monroe (largest city: Waterloo)
• Calhoun (Largest village: Hardin)
• Fulton (Largest city: Canton)
• Henderson (Largest village: Oquawka)
• Knox (Largest city: Galesburg)
• Pulaski (Largest city: Mounds)
• Rock Island (largest city: Moline)
• Lake (largest city: Waukegan)
• Whiteside (largest city: Sterling)
• Perry (Largest city: Du Quoin)
• Union (Largest city: Anna)
• Jersey (Largest city: Jerseyville)
• Hardin (Largest city: Rosiclare)
• Massac (Largest city: Metropolis)
• Gallatin (largest city: Shawneetown)
• Putnam (largest city: Hennpin)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Jackson (largest city: Carbondale)

See also

• Rod Blagojevich corruption charges
• 2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois
• 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois