Patrick Joseph "Pat" Quinn III (born December 16, 1948) is the 41st and current The following is a list of Governors of the State of Illinois and Illinois Territory Governor of Illinois The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state. The governor is responsible for enacting laws passed. He is a member of the Democratic Party The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. It is one of the world's oldest political parties and boasts the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the United. Quinn became governor of the state of Illinois on January 29, 2009, when the previous governor, Rod Blagojevich Milorad R. "Rod" Blagojevich (pronounced /bləˈɡɔɪ.əvɪtʃ/ ; born December 10, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago. He was, was impeached Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office. The actual trial on those charges, and subsequent removal of an official on conviction on those charges, is separate from the act of impeachment itself and removed from office.
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Education and personal life
Born in 1948 in Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is an affluent Chicago suburb located partly in Cook County and mainly DuPage County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 17,349 at the 2000 census. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town has a rolling, wooded topography, with a quaint downtown that contains boutique shops and restaurants, and is a 20-minute train ride to, Quinn attended the local Catholic grade school, St. Isaac Jogues. He graduated in 1967 from Fenwick High School, a Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members. The Church's leader is the Pope who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops of which he is the head. A communion of the Western church and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic churches (called school in Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest city in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines, CTA buses, and Metra commuter rail. As of the 2000 census, run by the Dominican Order of Priests[1]. While a student at Fenwick, Quinn was the cross-country Cross country running is a sport in which runners compete to complete a course over open or rough terrain. The courses used at these events may include grass, mud, woodlands, hills, flat ground and water. It is a popular participatory sport, and usually takes place in temperate regions during the autumn and winter when soft conditions underfoot team captain and the sports editor of the school newspaper. Quinn went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society with missions to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences; and for induction of the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and Mary on December 5, 1776, as the from Georgetown University Georgetown University is a Jesuit private university located in Georgetown, Washington, DC. Father John Carroll founded the school in 1789, though its roots extend back to 1634. While the school struggled financially in its early years, Georgetown expanded into a branched university after the American Civil War under the leadership of university in 1971 with a bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for four years, but can range from two to six years depending on the region of the world. It may also be the name of a "postgraduate" degree, such as a Bachelor of Civil Law, the Bachelor of Music, or the Bachelor of from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. After taking a few years off from education, he received a Juris Doctor Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional degree in Law. The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree (such as the Dottore in Giurisprudenza in Italy and the Juris Utriusque Doctor). Originating from the 19th degree from Northwestern University School of Law The Northwestern University School of Law is a private American law school in Chicago, Illinois. The law school was independently founded in 1859 as the Union College of Law and is one of eleven academic entities at Northwestern University. Northwestern enjoys a strong national reputation. The school is currently ranked tied for 10th by the US in 1980.[2]
Quinn is divorced and has two sons, Patrick IV and David, born on April 12, 1983, and December 16, 1984, respectively. Both sons, like their father, competed in scholastic sports, specializing in track and field Track and field athletics is a collection of sports events that involve running, throwing, jumping and walking. Organised athletics are traced back to the Ancient Olympic Games from 776 BC, and most modern events are conducted by the member clubs of the International Association of Athletics Federations. The athletics meeting forms the backbone of events.[3]
Quinn was briefly a practicing tax attorney before his career in public office.
Political career
Political activism
Before running for public office, Quinn was already involved in political action, serving as an aide to Governor Dan Walker.[1] He was first put on the political map in the late 1970s by leading a petition to amend the 1970 Illinois Constitution The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970 with the "Illinois Initiative". This amendment was intended to increase the power of public referendums A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of direct democracy. The measure put to a vote is in the political process and recalls for public officials.[1] The petition drive was successful, but the Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the highest judicial court of the state of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five appellate judicial districts of the state. The district encompassing Cook County is represented by three justices, while ultimately ruled that the Illinois Initiative was an "unconstitutional constitutional amendment," and thus never was presented to voters.[3]
Quinn drew more attention to his causes by holding press conferences on Sundays, seen as a slow news day.[1] While still in law school, Quinn scored his first political success in 1980, earning him the reputation as a reformer on the Illinois political scene. Through his organization, called "The Coalition for Political Honesty," he initiated and led the statewide campaign for the Cutback Amendment to the Illinois Constitution The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970, ultimately reducing the size of the Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives of is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from individual legislative districts for a two-year from 177 to 118 members.[3][4] This also earned him some enemies among the state's establishment, since they had fewer seats and possibly less power.[1]
In 1982, Quinn was elected as commissioner of the Cook County Board of Tax Appeals, now known as the Board of Review.[1] During this time, Quinn was instrumental in the creation of the Citizens Utility Board, a consumer watchdog organization. He did not seek re-election in 1986, but waged an unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for Illinois State Treasurer, which was won by Jerome Cosentino. After this defeat, Quinn briefly served in the administration of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington was an American lawyer and politician who became the first African American Mayor of Chicago, serving from 1983 until his death in 1987 as Revenue Director.[5][6] He was later fired from that position. In a video filmed in 1987, on why he hired him, Washington said, "I was nuts to do it. I must have been blind or staggering. Pat Quinn is a totally and completely undisciplined individual who thinks this government is nothing but a large easel by which he can do his (public relations) work. He almost created a shambles in that department".[7]
Quinn's bid for office An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the term office may refer to business-related tasks. In was successful in the 1990 election. He was elected Illinois State Treasurer and he served in that position from 1991 to 1995. During this period, he was publicly critical of Illinois Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 secretaries of states in the United States. The Illinois Secretary of State keeps the state records, laws, and archives, and is the state's vehicle registration and driver licensing authority. The current Secretary and future governor George Ryan George Homer Ryan was the 39th Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1999 until 2003. He was a member of the Republican Party. Although Ryan became nationally known when he "raised the national debate on capital punishment" by issuing a moratorium on executions in 2000, his 35-year political career was tarnished by scandal. Specifically, he drew attention to special vanity license plates that Ryan's office provided for clout-heavy motorists. This rivalry led Quinn to challenge Republican George Ryan in the 1994 general election for Secretary of State, unsuccessfully.[5]
Quinn then took his aspirations to the national stage. When United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators, regardless of population. Senators serve staggered Paul Simon Paul Martin Simon was an American politician from Illinois. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and United States Senate from 1985 to 1997. He was a member of the Democratic Party. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination chose not to seek re-election in 1996, Quinn entered the race. Dick Durbin won the Democratic primary and eventually the Senate seat.[8]
Quinn sought the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor in 1998, but was narrowly defeated by Mary Lou Kearns. Quinn did not initially accept the count and charged fraud, but several weeks after the election he declined to ask the Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the highest judicial court of the state of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five appellate judicial districts of the state. The district encompassing Cook County is represented by three justices, while for a recount and endorsed Kearns.
In 1978, Quinn protested an increase in state legislators' salaries by urging citizens to send tea bags A tea bag is a small, porous paper, silk or plastic sealed bag containing tea leaves for brewing tea. The bag contains the tea leaves while the tea is brewed, making it easier to dispose of the leaves, and performing the same function as a tea infuser. Some tea bags have an attached piece of string with a paper label to the top that assists in to Jim Thompson, then the governor. The tactic was a reference to the Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government. On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor; Quinn was born on December 16, the anniversary of that event.[9] As Lieutenant Governor, he repeated the tactic in 2006, urging consumers to include a tea bag when paying their electricity bills, to protest rate hikes by Commonwealth Edison Commonwealth Edison is the largest electric utility in Illinois, serving the Chicago and Northern Illinois area. The service territory roughly borders in Iroquois County to the south, the Wisconsin border to the north, the Iowa border to the west, and the Indiana border to the East.[10]
Lieutenant Governor
Quinn won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in March 2002 and subsequently won the general election on the Democratic ticket alongside gubernatorial nominee Rod Blagojevich Milorad R. "Rod" Blagojevich (pronounced /bləˈɡɔɪ.əvɪtʃ/ ; born December 10, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago. He was. In Illinois, candidates for lieutenant governor and governor run in separate primary elections, but are conjoined as a single ticket for the general election.[1] This same ticket won re-election in 2006, where Quinn was unopposed in the primary.[3] While lieutenant governor, according to his official biography, his priorities were consumer advocacy, environmental protection, health care, broadband deployment, and veterans' affairs.[11]
On December 14, 2008, when David Gregory asked Quinn on NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank, California. It is sometimes referred to as the "Peacock Network" due to its stylized peacock logo, created originally for color's Meet The Press Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television show in American broadcasting history, having made its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been hosted by eleven moderators; the current host is David Gregory, who assumed the role in December 2008. The show got a about his relationship with Blagojevich, he said, "Well, he's a bit isolated. I tried to talk to the governor, but the last time I spoke to him was in August of 2007. I think one of the problems is the governor did sort of seal himself off from all the statewide officials... Attorney General Madigan and myself and many others..."[12] Quinn has stated that his relationship with Blagojevich has been estranged at best, pointing out that Blagojevich officially announced that Quinn was not part of his administration in 2006.[13]
Rich Miller
hu, 28 Jan 2010 19:38:28 GM
Pat Quinn. winds up losing the Democratic primary on Tuesday, it will be more than just a stinging political defeat for him. It means Illinois would be stuck with a lame duck governor for the next year. Losing the election would significantly . ... We have career . politicians. who are intent on serving those (lobbyists and contributors) who helped elect them first and foremost. Their allegiance, secondly, is to themselves and their careers, and then last to the voters. ...
