Posted by John Chase and Monique Garcia at 5:15 p.m.
Scott Lee Cohen, the Chicago pawnbroker and onetime Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, submitted a letter today to state Democratic Party officials withdrawing his candidacy.
The letter, given to a representative for state party chairman Michael Madigan, will be handed over to the Illinois State Board of Elections when state offices open Tuesday following the Presidents Day holiday, a Cohen spokesman said.
“We didn’t want this to continue through the weekend,” Cohen’s spokesman, Baxter Swilley, said. “We gave it to the state party and they will file it. We consider the matter closed.”
Swilley declined to provide a copy of the letter until it was accepted by the state board of elections. He said the letter is one page and simply states Cohen is relinquishing all rights to the nomination.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the resignation papers were given today to Mike Kasper, an attorney for the state party.
"We will be filing those for him Tuesday with the State Board of Elections," Brown said.
Brown said he did not know if Madigan and Cohen had a discussion about how Cohen would resign.
Madigan is the only leading Democratic official who spoke to Cohen about resigning in the days after his surprise win in the Feb. 2 primary.
It was only after the election that details came out about Cohen’s business and domestic problems, including allegations he held a knife to a girlfriend who later pleaded guilty to prostitution. He denied the allegations and initially said he would remain in the race as the running mate to Gov. Pat Quinn.
But after days of pressure from Democratic leaders calling for him to withdraw, a tearful Cohen held a news conference Sunday during halftime of the Super Bowl to say he would quit the race rather than endanger the Democratic ticket.