Ill. Gov. Quinn to officially announce election bid Thursday
Quinn
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday will formally announce his candidacy for election to a full term next year, with a nine-stop statewide fly-around including a Metro East event.
Quinn, of course, became governor in January, stepping up from his post as lieutenant governor when ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich was removed from office following his arrest on federal corruption charges.
In that odd but very familiar political routine, Quinn’s “formal” announcement this week comes after months of making clear to anyone who would listen that he intends to try to keep the job. He is being challenged in the Feb. 2 Democratic primary by state Comptroller Dan Hynes.
Quinn has already started laying out a campaign strategy that will focus on his quest to clean up Illinois’ ethical swamp in the wake of Blagojevich (though the record is a little spotty there, with one major campaign finance reform measure collapsing this year, and a second one already drawing fire from reform groups).
Hynes has been presenting himself as someone who can fix Illinois’ fiscal mess, touting his plans for an upper-income tax hike. Quinn, too, has been touting his admittedly gutsy attempts (so far unsuccessful) to raise the state’s income tax to deal with the budget crisis — putting the two Democrats in a very strange pre-election argument over who will be the more effective tax-raiser.
Here is Quinn’s Thursday schedule:
9:30 a.m. Chicago: Hotel Allegro, 171 W. Randolph St.
12:15 p.m. Springfield: Abraham LIncoln Capitol Airport Main Terminal, 1200 Capitol Airport Drive, Door C
2:15 p.m. Cahokia: St. Louis Downtown Airport, 1680 Sauget Industrial Parkway
3:30 p.m. Herrin: Herrin Civic Center, 101 S. 16th St.
5:00 p.m. West Frankfort: Teamsters Local Union 347, located at 509 West Main St
5:55 p.m. Mt. Vernon: Granada Theater, 108 N. 9th St.
6:40 p.m. Salem: Salem Public Library, 315 S. Maple
7:15 p.m. Mattoon: Holiday Inn Express Great Room, 121 Swords Drive
8:00 p.m. Tuscola: Woody’s Family Restaurant, 1000 E. Southline Road
Lotsa luck!
BWHAHAHAHA!! This corruption enabling, tax and spender actually thinks he has a chance of getting elected?? No incumbents and no Chicago lawyers will get my vote regardless of party affiliation.
How long until the PD endorses him?
Monster, all of the reasons you stated will get him elected. The majority of the voters are from Chicago. Did you forget that? Dead people only vote for the guy with a “D” next to his name.
Well, someone already beat me to it…. Good luck Pat, you don’t have a snowball’s chance in he.. As a registered voter in the state of Illinois, I’m going to do everything in my power to put you and your fellow political thugs out of work. I’m SICK of you Chicago gangsters running my state. Time to elect a downstater and start fixing the damage you morons have done.
The guy is a lightweight.
Monster, you are an absolute idiot.
I’ve known Pat Quinn for 28 years, dating back to when he was just getting C.U.B. off the ground. For you MISSOURI residents above commenting on an election you CANNOT vote, you know very little about Quinn, and why don’t you tell me about the agency in MISSOURI that fights utility tax rate increases like C.U.B. does in ILLINOIS?
He’s always been the perfect public servant, never taking advantage of tax dollars for personal gain. If memory serves me right, his car is at least 15 years old with over 200,000 miles. He’s not perfect, I don’t agree with him on income tax increases (although they haven’t changed for 21 years) but he wants to do the right thing - cut spending - and the legislature won’t do it. He’s never been even remotely connected to any scandal. Any comment made contrary above is from someone ignorant who doesn’t know Quinn’s life story.
So tell me saintlouisguy, how does that make him a lightweight? You’re comment is lightweight, that’s for sure.
Taxes have not increased in 21 years? Illinois income tax is a percentage, so as saleries have gone up so have taxes…you think that Illinois (or any government) deserves a larger percentage of our wages?