Pat Quinn (politician)

Patrick Joseph Quinn Jr. (born December 16, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 41st governor of Illinois from 2009 to 2015.

A Democrat, Quinn began his career as an activist by founding the Coalition for Political Honesty.

Quinn was born in 1948 in Chicago.

His family moved to the suburb of Hinsdale, Illinois, when he was a child.

The son of Eileen (Prindiville), a school secretary, and Patrick Joseph Quinn, a public relations official for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, his grandparents were Irish.

He was reared a Catholic and attended the local Catholic elementary school, St. Isaac Jogues.

He graduated in 1967 from Fenwick High School, a Catholic school in Oak Park, Illinois; while at Fenwick, Quinn was the cross-country team captain and sports editor of the school newspaper.

He was first put on the political map in the late 1970s by leading a petition to amend the 1970 Illinois Constitution with the "Illinois Initiative".

This amendment was intended to increase the power of public referendums in the political process and recalls for public officials.

The petition drive was successful, but the Illinois Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the Illinois Initiative was an "unconstitutional constitutional amendment," and thus never was presented to voters.

Quinn drew more attention to his causes by holding press conferences on Sundays, seen as a slow news day.

Quinn went on to graduate from Georgetown University in 1971 with a bachelor's degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he was a student of Professor Jan Karski and a sports editor for The Hoya.

Before running for public office, Quinn was involved in political action, serving as an aide to Governor Daniel Walker from 1973 through 1975.

From 1976 through 1978, he worked as an economist for the company Coilcraft.

After taking a few years off from education, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1980.

While still in law school, Quinn scored his first political success in 1980, earning a reputation as a reformer on the Illinois political scene.

Through his organization, "The Coalition for Political Honesty," he initiated and led the statewide campaign for the Cutback Amendment to the Illinois Constitution, ultimately reducing the size of the Illinois House of Representatives from 177 to 118 members.

He was elected to one term as a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Appeals, serving from 1982 to 1986; he later served as revenue director in the administration of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington.

In 1982, Quinn married Julie Ann Hancock.

In 1982, Quinn was elected as commissioner of the Cook County Board of Appeals, now known as the Cook County Board of Review.

During his time on the board, Quinn was instrumental in the creation of the "Citizens Utility Board", a consumer watchdog organization.

The marriage produced two sons, Davey Quinn and Patrick Quinn IV, before the couple's 1986 divorce.

Quinn did not seek re-election to the Cook County Board of Tax Appeals, in 1986, instead opting to run an unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for Illinois State Treasurer, losing to Jerome Cosentino.

After this defeat, Quinn briefly served in the administration of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington as Revenue Director in 1987.

Quinn also served on the local school council of Sayre Magnet School on Chicago's West Side.

Quinn was elected Treasurer of Illinois in 1990 and served one term.

Quinn's bid for office was successful in the 1990 election for Illinois Treasurer, defeating Peg McDonnell Breslin in the Democratic primary and Greg Baise in the general election.

Quinn campaigned as a populist reformer in opposition to big government.

He was elected lieutenant governor in 2002 and served under governor Rod Blagojevich.

In Illinois' 2002 gubernatorial election, Quinn won the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in the primary and was paired with then-U.S. Representative Rod Blagojevich in the general election.

He was sworn into office as lieutenant governor in 2003.

Both Quinn and Blagojevich were reelected in 2006.

After Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office in 2009, Quinn assumed the governorship.

Quinn assumed the governorship on January 29, 2009, after Governor Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office on corruption charges.

He secured a full term in office in the 2010 gubernatorial election, but later lost his bid for a second term in the 2014 gubernatorial election to his opponent Bruce Rauner.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Quinn is a graduate of Georgetown University and Northwestern University School of Law.

Quinn began his career as a tax attorney in private practice before working as an aide to then-Illinois Governor Dan Walker.

Quinn was narrowly elected to a full term in office in the 2010, defeating Republican State Senator Bill Brady by a margin of less than 1% out of about 3.5 million votes cast.

Quinn was narrowly defeated in 2014 by Republican candidate Bruce Rauner.

Quinn unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Illinois in 2018.