(Chicago, IL) — February 8, 2010. State Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) is putting in his “two cents” and is recommending that Scott Lee Cohen‘s replacement be drawn from among those candidates who ran for Lt. Governor in the Democratic primary.
According to a post on Fritchey’s Facebook page today:
Now that Cohen is resigning the nomination, I think that equity and democracy dictate that the short list of replacements should be those individuals who committed to run in the Lt. Gov. race in the first place, and not somebody who gets on the ticket solely by virtue of zip code or lineage. Just my two cents.
Fritchey’s right.
And by extension, now that Dan Hynes has removed himself from consideration, the nomination to be Governor Pat Quinn‘s running-mater should go to Illinois Deputy House Majority Leader Art Turner, the second runner-up in the vote tally.
The Democratic Party of Illinois could follow the Miss America model–if the “Miss America” winner is unable to serve, the runner-up gets the crown. That’s fair.
Anything else that smacks of horse-trading and political calculation will likely sour voters even more than those surly hordes already soured.
We’ll see.
Gov. Pat Quinn
“… Replacement Should Come From Lt. Governor Pool…”
Posted by Joe Lake | February 8, 2010, 12:41 PMFrom the Chicago Sun-Times, Feb. 8, 2010, “The Democratic State Central Committee will choose Cohen’s replacement. The group is to meet March 15, but could meet sooner.”
It seems to me that the Central Committee needs to look into the background of any and all of Cohen’s replacement before a name is thrown around. Is not that what caused the problem in the first place?
Joe Lake, Bucktown
Joe,
The background of lawmakers such as Art Turner, Ricky Hendon, Mike Boland and Terry Link have been pretty well scrubbed over the years. They are known quantities. Disenfranchising voters who voted for a “genuine” candidate is a risky move.
Thank you for reading.
David Ormsby
Posted by David Ormsby | February 8, 2010, 12:56 PMI guess if putting two million in doesn’t count everyone has a right to stick their two cents in. I atill don’t think that Quinn can win in November, but Turner certainly should have right of first refusal. Lightning could strike. I’ve been wrong many times before, though I still strongly believe that a Hynes/Turner ticket would have been much stronger as I indicated in my memo to Turner last November 15.
Posted by Phil Krone | February 8, 2010, 2:38 PMScott Lee Cohen was a genuine candidate. He circulated petitions, got on the ballot, actually campaigned and bought a lot of media. I can think of one of the other candidates for that position who has not been well scrubbed.
Posted by Phil Krone | February 8, 2010, 2:45 PMThe real problem for Quinn as it would have been for Hynes, is if you knew this why didn’t you do something about it, and if you didn’t why didn’t you. It will be an issue in the fall realting to credability and competence. Again I cannot urge other candidates enough: campaign hard and independently. There is no straight party voting. Nothing can be taken for granted.