Cohen Drops Out of Lt. Governor's Race

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 8, 2010 4:00PM

A tearful Democratic Lt. Governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen announced his withdrawal from the Democratic ticket last night amidst increasing calls for him to remove himself from the ticket. Last week's revelations of Cohen's use of anabolic steroids, allegations of domestic abuse, and owing nine months in back child support payments while he pumped $2 million of his pawnbroker's fortune into his successful primary victory had party leaders fearing Cohen's presence could jeopardize the election chances of Governor Pat Quinn and Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias. Cohen came to his decision after a Friday meeting with State House Michael Madigan, who's also state Democratic Party Chairman. According to the Tribune, Madigan told Cohen "very direct and very frank" way to step down from the ticket. Governor Quinn's office released a statement following Cohen's announcement which read Cohen "made the right decision for the Democratic Party and the people of Illinois. Now we can continue to focus our efforts on putting our economy back on track and working to bring good jobs to Illinois."

Meanwhile, the Sun-Times reports that Cohen received critical backing in the primary from three powerful aldermen: 33rd Ward Alderman Dick Mell, 22nd Ward Alderman Roberto Maldonado and 50th Ward Alderman Bernard Stone.