Bowing to calls from several Democrats, Scott Lee Cohen has renounced his claim to the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, which he won in last Tuesday’s primary.
The pawn broker and owner of a cleaning supplies company won the nomination Tuesday. Since then, it has become widely know that he was accused of abusing his ex-wife and holding a knife to the throat of an ex-girlfriend.
The decision mitigates the damage Cohen did by winning the nomination. Consider the still-recent disgrace of former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, D, the appointment of Sen. Roland Burris, D, and the nomination Alexi Giannoulias, D, a former banker with mob ties whose family bank is on the edge of solvency.
Cohen’s campaign would have posed an additional test for Illinois voters’ patience.
