The 2010 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Pat Quinn was elected to a full term in office, having become governor in 2009 following the impeachment and removal of Governor Rod Blagojevich. Quinn was elected as the Democratic nominee, the

Illinois Green Party The Illinois Green Party is a statewide political party in Illinois. The party is state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States. Its stated mission and purpose are to advance the ''Ten Key Values of the Green Party'' in Illinois through ...

nominee was attorney and 2006 nominee

Rich Whitney Rich Whitney (born April 21, 1955) is an American politician and civil rights attorney who was the Illinois Green Party's nominee for Governor of Illinois in the elections of 2006 and 2010. During the 2006 campaign Whitney received endorsements ...

, the Republican nominee was State Senator Bill Brady, the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

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 with Brady carring 98 of the state's 102 counties. 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 for the governor level since 1920. The election marked the first time since

1852 Events January–March * January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. * January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come tog ...

that the Democrats won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in Illinois. This is also the first gubernatorial election since

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

in which the winner was of the same party as the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

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 Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Primary elections were held on February 2, 2010. Election information 2010 was a midterm election year in the United States. Turnout Primary election For the primary election, tu ...

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. For the general election, turnout was 49.69%, with 3,729,989 votes cast.

Democratic primaries

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.

Governor

Candidates

Daniel Hynes Daniel W. Hynes (born July 20, 1968) is an American politician, formerly serving as the Illinois Comptroller. Background Hynes was born in Chicago, the son of Thomas Hynes, a former Cook County assessor, president of the Illinois Senate and D ...

Illinois State Comptroller The Comptroller of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Ten individuals have held the office of Comptroller since the enactment of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, replacing ...

and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2004 * Pat Quinn, incumbent governor

Debates

Democratic candidates Quinn and Hynes debated on January 19. WSIU Public Broadcasting ( WSIU (FM)/

WSIU-TV WSIU-TV (channel 8) is a PBS member television station in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. It is owned by Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Southern Illinois University alongside NPR member WSIU (FM), WSIU (91.9 FM). The two stations s ...

) at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

and

Illinois Public Media Illinois Public Media, previously "WILL AM-FM-TV", is a not-for-profit organization located within the College of Media at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which is responsible for the university's public media service activities. It ...

(WILL AM/FM/TV) at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

also co-sponsored two gubernatorial primary election debates. Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes debated on January 21, 2010.

Polling

Results

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

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

Results

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.

Republican primaries

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 Kirk W. Dillard (born June 1, 1955) is an American politician and former Republican member of the Illinois State Senate, representing the 24th District from 1993 until his resignation in August 2014. He is also the former chairman of the DuPage ...

, State Senator * Andy McKenna, businessman, former chairman of the

Republican Party of Illinois The Illinois Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Illinois founded in May 29, 1856. It is run by the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, which consists of 18 members, one representing each of t ...

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 DuPage County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat ...

Board

Results

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 Jason Robert Plummer (3 March 1969 – 15 November 2021) was an Australian freestyle swimmer, who competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Plummer was a member of the St. Peters Swim Club in Brisbane. At the 1985 National Championshi ...

, chairman of the Madison County Republican Party *

Don Tracy Don Tracy is an American lawyer and Republican Party (United States) politician who serves as the Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. He was elected to succeed Tim Schneider as Party Chairman in February 2021. He was a candidate for Lieuten ...

, corporate attorney *Randy A. White Sr., Hancock County Commissioner

Withdrawn

* Dave Winters, Illinois State Representative

Results

Green primaries

Governor

Candidates

, nominee for governor in 2006

Results

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

*Don Crawford

Results

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. 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 *

(Green):

's 2006 nominee for governor * Lex Green (Libertarian)
archived campaign website
: Secretary of the McLean County

* 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.

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 Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

in the November general election. Cohen was criticized for his having been charged with domestic

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

, 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 Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate De ...

, 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 Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

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 ''For his father who also served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, see Arthur Turner'' Art Turner (born July 17, 1982) is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives who serves as a representative for the ...

, 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 Rickey R. Hendon (born December 8, 1953) is a former Illinois Senator for the 5th district, serving from 1993 to 2011. Public service Before running for the state senate, Hendon was alderman of the 27th ward in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to th ...

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 The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...

official

Tammy Duckworth Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented ...

; and State Representative

Julie Hamos Julie Hamos (born January 29, 1949) is a former Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 18th District from 1999 to 2010. Her district included Rogers Park in Chicago and the suburbs of Evanston, Wilmette, K ...

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. At one point during the campaign, Democrat Pat Quinn, struggling to make up ground facing 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. Quinn struggled to shake off Blagojevich’s scandals, leading to poor polling numbers throughout the campaign. This was despite Quinn denouncing Blagojevich. 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.

Predictions

Polling

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 Collar counties is a colloquialism for DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, the five counties of Illinois that border Cook County, which is home to Chicago. The collar counties are part of the Chicago metropolitan area and comp ...

of the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

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 Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

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 ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

as the 7th biggest upset of the 2010 elections.

References

External links

Illinois State Board of Elections
*
Official candidate list

Illinois gubernatorial election, 2010
at Ballotpedia
Illinois Governor Candidates
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

Campaign contributions for 2010 Illinois Governor
from ''Follow the Money''
2010 Illinois Senate General Election: Mark Kirk (R) vs Alexi Giannoulias (D)
graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
Election 2010: Illinois Governor
from ''

Rasmussen Reports Rasmussen Reports is an American polling company founded in 2003. The company engages in political commentary and the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports conducts nightly tracking, ...

''
2010 Illinois Governor - Brady vs. Quinn
from ''

Real Clear Politics RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator formed in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. The site features selected political new ...

''
2010 Illinois Governor's Race
from ''

CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combine ...

''
Race Profile
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''
Race for Governor
from the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' ; Primary election debates
Republican Primary Debate (November 5, 2009)
video from sponsor ''

Illinois Republican Party The Illinois Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Illinois founded in May 29, 1856. It is run by the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, which consists of 18 members, one representing each of ...

''
Republican (January 13)
an
Democratic (January 19, 2010) Primary Debates
videos from sponsor ''

ABC7 Chicago WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on North State ...

''
Republican (January 14) and Democratic (January 21, 2010) Primary Debates
audio and video from sponsors WSIU and

(WILL) ; General election debates and forums
Illinois Gubernatorial Debate
C-SPAN, September 29, 2010
Candidate forum
''

Chicago Tonight ''Chicago Tonight'' is a television news program broadcast weeknights on WTTW in Chicago. It reports primarily on local politics, education, business, culture, science and health, with a mix of in-studio panel discussions, one-on-one interview ...

'', October 28, 2010 ; Official campaign sites (Archived)
Bill Brady for Illinois Governor

Pat Quinn for Illinois Governor
incumbent
Richard Whitney for Illinois Governor
{{Illinois elections 2010 Gubernatorial, 2010

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...