Boland Drops Out of Lt. Governor Race Before Selection Process Ends

Dems choose Simon Saturday

Tom Kocal

Rep. Mike Boland, one of the 17 finalists hoping to be appointed the Democratic nominee for Illinois lieutenant governor, dropped out Wednesday, March 24.

Boland, (D-71, Moline), who ran for the office in the February Primary election, says he was on a “short list” of people who wanted to be Gov. Pat Quinn’s running mate in the November election.

Cohen’s election rejected

Illinois Democrats technically elected Scott Lee Cohen, a Chicago pawnbroker, whose surprise primary win was followed by scandalous revelations about his troubled past. Democratic leadership said they knew about Cohen’s past, but didn’t expect him to win. Cohen withdrew when it was revealed that he had been accused of holding a knife to his girlfriend’s throat, abusing steroids and failing to pay child support. He has denied the allegations.

Cohen resigned on Super Bowl Sunday, five days after Democratic voters chose him over five primary rivals, including Boland and other veteran state lawmakers. Cohen spent $2 million in personal funds on advertising for the state’s lieutenant governor spot. His resignation marked one of the quickest and most dramatic changes to an Illinois political ticket in history.

Gov. Pat Quinn and party leaders pressured Cohen to resign in spite of his election victory, saying they were concerned that Quinn’s narrow primary victory over Comptroller Dan Hynes would compromise his chances in the fall if Cohen was his running mate.

State Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest), and Southern Illinois University law professor Sheila Simon, daughter of the late U.S. Senator (and 1988 Presidential candidate) Paul Simon, were thought to be Quinn’s top 2 choices, prompting Boland to step aside.

Garrett fell from grace with Quinn after saying she did not support Quinn’s proposed 1% income tax increase. On Friday, Quinn made it known that he preferred Simon to run with him on the Democratic ticket.

Boland stated that he did not support Garrett for the position. Rather, he said state Rep. Art Turner (D-Chicago) should be the nominee, since Turner received the second-most votes behind Cohen.

“To not choose someone who has already campaigned extensively throughout this huge state and garnered over 180,000 votes would be to tell all of the hundreds of thousands of voters who took the time and made the effort to vote in the primary election that their votes meant nothing,” Boland said in a statement.

Some voters feel their vote meant nothing anyway, due to the Democratic party forcing a legally-elected citizen to resign, based on allegations. Some say the black community will be alienated from Quinn’s campaign if Turner, who is black, is not selected.

Simon chosen Saturday

The drama ended Saturday when Sheila Simon was officially selected by the 38-member Democratic State Central Committee, the governing board of state Democrats, headed by powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, the state Democratic chairman.

Quinn praised her public service and said it was important to have a downstate resident on the Democratic ticket. Besides teaching law at SIU, Simon served four years on the city council in Carbondale. Quinn is from Chicago, but both Republicans candidates are from downstate: Republican gubernatorial candidate, state Sen. Bill Brady, is from Bloomington, and Edwardsville businessman Jason Plummer is the Lt. Governor candidate.

Simon was also a member of Quinn’s Illinois Reform Commission, which made several recommendations for government changes after Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on federal charges of trying to sell President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat.

Turner said Saturday he understands the decision, and encouraged his supporters who traveled to Springfield for the committee’s vote to support the Democratic ticket in the November general election.