Posted by Monique Garcia at 12:40 p.m.
Gov. Pat Quinn marked the one year anniversary of his ascension to the state’s top office by joining Mayor Richard Daley and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin this morning to highlight $1.2 billion Illinois is getting in high-speed rail money.
Speaking at Chicago’s Union Station, Quinn said he couldn’t think of a better anniversary gift than an influx of cash from the federal government. The money, which the Obama administration set aside in the stimulus package, will be used to cut the travel time on the Chicago to St. Louis rail line.
The ceremony capped a week of feel-good announcements by Quinn, who in the run up to Tuesday’s primary is trying to stress his accomplishments since taking over for the impeached and removed Rod Blagojevich. Quinn faces Comptroller Dan Hynes in the Democratic governor primary and a Tribune poll taken last week shows Hynes has cut into what was once considerable lead for Quinn. Hynes has hammered on a campaign theme that Quinn is incompetent.
Quinn has had a sometimes difficult first year as governor, but said today that he thinks he has done a good job steering the state following Blagojevich. Quinn twice served as Blagojevich’s running mate.
“I think it’s a good job performance, I think the voters will say the same thing on Tuesday,” Quinn said. “You’ve got to put your heart and soul into this job and my heart is ever at the service of the people of Illinois.”
Quinn said that the rail is a good representation of his time in office because he had to bring several parties together to ensure Illinois got its piece of the stimulus pie.
“Today is the culmination of a lot of hard work,” Quinn said. “We had to work with the federal government, with local mayors like Mayor Daley. We had to work with our unions and businesses, everybody was here today. That’s what Illinois at its best can do. When people work together we can create jobs and make a better future.”