Scott Lee Cohen (D-IL), the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in Illinois this year, has dropped out of the race due to the public uproar over his past.
Cohen, the owner of a Cleaning Supplies Company, announced his decision Sunday night at a Chicago bar. He won the nomination in Illinois' Democratic primary last week, and was set to run on a ticket with Gov. Pat Quinn, the party's gubernatorial nominee, in the general election.
But after his primary victory, it came to light that Cohen had been accused of abusing his ex-wife and holding a knife to the throat of an ex-girlfriend. That girlfriend had been charged with prostitution. He had also admitted to using steroids in the past.
Many of the state's prominent Democrats, including Quinn and Sen. Dick Durbin, had urged Cohen to drop out of the race.
So what happens now? Remember what happened in the 2004 U.S. Senate race, when Jack Ryan, the Republican nominee, withdrew from the race in June amidst scandal. The Republicans were still able to replace him on the ballot, albeit with a very weak candidate in Alan Keyes, who was crushed by the Democratic nominee, a State Senator named....Barack Obama.
The Democrats won't be in that quite dire straights here. But even with Cohen out of the race, the fact that he won the party's nomination could still be held over the ticket's head.
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