Bill Daley Drops Out Of Illinois Governor's Race

By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 17, 2013 2:00PM

Bill Daley

Former Commerce Secretary and Obama Chief of Staff Bill Daley has scheduled a news conference for 9:30 a.m. at the Union League Club where he will discuss why he decided to drop out of the race for Illinois governor late Monday.

Daley sat down for an exclusive interview with Tribune reporter Rick Pearson and offered some Cliff’s Notes. Apparently Daley didn’t realize trying to unseat incumbent Pat Quinn for the Democratic nomination next year would be harder than it seemed.

Daley spokesman Pete Giangreco said the 65-year-old “didn’t have the fire in his belly” to commit to the five-to-nine years he felt necessary to “dig the state out of the mess that it’s in.”

“Bill decided that’s not what he’s wanting to do at age 65,” Giangreco added.

Daley announced his candidacy in June, attacking Quinn for ineffective leadership regarding the state’s underfunded pension liability and unpaid bills. Daley quickly picked up the endorsement of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, which would have helped him raise much-needed campaign cash from Bloomberg’s network of donors, continued to pound Quinn at every opportunity and criticized the possibility of a gubernatorial run by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan while her father Michael was still Illinois House Speaker. (Madigan announced in July she would seek re-election for AG instead, citing the concern over those possible conflicts.)

Daley’s announcement leaves the unpopular Quinn with a clear path to next November’s general election against the winner of a four-person race for the GOP nomination that includes State Treasurer Dan Rutherford, venture capitalist Bruce Rauner and state Senators Kirk Dillard and Bill Brady. Dillard and Rutherford have already chosen running mates for Lieutenant Governor. Brady is expected to announce a running mate today.