Posted by David Heinzmann at 12:05 a.m.
A Chicago pawn broker was leading the race for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor early today.
With 97 percent of the vote counted, it was less clear who would be the nominee on the Republican side. Jason Plummer, a 27-year-old lumber company executive from Edwardsville, had 34 percent of the vote, maintaining a slight lead over state Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine, with 33 percent.
Scott Lee Cohen, a pawn broker and cleaning supply distributor, appeared to be edging out state Rep. Art Turner for the Democratic nomination. Cohen had 26 percent of the vote to Turner’s 22 percent, with 97 percent counted.
Cohen, a little-known candidate who financed much of the campaign with his own fortune, will have to answer questions during the general election race as more is learned about him. He was charged with a 2005 misdemeanor domestic battery charge.
He was accused of beating a woman, but the case was dropped a month later when she refused to show up in court to pursue the charges.
Though the lieutenant governor’s job is limited in its powers and reach, the post became one of the most sought- after offices in the primary election — with six candidates from each party vying in their respective primaries. It’s likely the heavy interest had something to do with the last lieutenant governor — Pat Quinn — being elevated to the G governor’s M mansion after Rod Blagojevich was impeached last year.
Because candidates for governor don’t pick their running mates, the races can make for odd pairings. For instance, Quinn and Blagojevich were not natural allies but found themselves sharing the ticket. Blagojevich’s downfall catapulted Quinn into office but also saddled him with ties to the indicted former governor in some voters’ minds.
In another statewide race, a familiar face emerged victorious as former state t Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka ran away with the Republican nomination for comptroller, taking 59 percent of the vote in a three-way contest.
Late into the night, it was unclear whom Topinka, whose last race was a failed 2006 bid for governor against Blagojevich, would face on the Democratic side. In that contest, south suburban dentist and state Rep. David Miller was narrowly leading Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Harvard-educated lawyer from Hoffman Estates, both holding onto about 46 percent of the vote with 97 percent counted.
The treasurer’s post was also was left vacant by a politician — Alexi Giannoulias — — seeking higher office. Downstate lawmaker and businessman Dan Rutherford was uncontested in the Republican primary. And on the Democratic side, Giannoulias’ chief of staff, Robin Kelly, won the nomination. With 97 percent of precincts counted, she had 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Justin Oberman, an investment banker who is the son of a former Chicago alderman.