Sources: Quinn wants Sheila Simon as running mate/Democrats pick Simon as Quinn's running mate

Sources: Quinn wants Sheila Simon as running mate
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
March 25, 2010
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2010/03/sources-quinn-wants-sheila-simon-as-running-mate.html

UPDATED at 8:55 p.m.; originally posted by Rick Pearson and Ray Long at 8:36 p.m.: Quinn speaks highly of Simon; she says she doesn't know.

SPRINGFIELD—Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn made an about-face on his choice for a running mate and plans to unveil Sheila Simon, the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, as his preferred candidate for lieutenant governor, sources familiar with the selection said tonight.

The sources, who asked not to be identified so as to not preempt Quinn’s public announcement of a running mate on Friday, said the governor ultimately rejected another top contender for the post, state Sen. Susan Garrett of Lake Forest, who has been reluctant to fully embrace his call for an income tax increase. Simon said she would back the governor's plan.

The state Democratic Central Committee is set to vote on a running mate Saturday in Springfield and Quinn has said he hopes they will endorse his recommendation.

Quinn, reached tonight, said he would make his pick known on Friday, but he spoke favorably of Simon.

"I know Sheila," Quinn said. "I've worked with Sheila. She has a servant's heart, and that's exactly what Illinois needs in a lieutenant governor.

Reached tonight by telephone, Simon, 49, said she did not know if she would be Quinn's choice. "That's the straight-up truth," she said, adding she believed she had made it into a small number of finalists that Quinn was giving serious consideration.

Simon already was among a list of now-16 potential candidates put together by Democratic Party leaders after public hearings. The list had had 17 people on it, but Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, dropped out and threw his support to Rep. Art Turner, D-Chicago, who came in second in the primary race.

"I think there may be a shorter list than the Sweet 16, and I think I'm probably on that," Simon said.

The talk between Quinn and Simon "focused a lot on whether we would be compatible, and I said, 'Yes, I support his proposal for a tax increase," she said. She called her meeting with Quinn at the governor's mansion Wednesday a "good, honest session for him to get to know me better."

The choice of Simon is filled with irony. Her father served as lieutenant governor from 1969-1973 under Republican Gov. Richard Ogilvie when voters could cast individual votes for governor and lieutenant governor. A law professor at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, she lost a high-profile race for Carbondale mayor to incumbent Republican Brad Cole. Cole unsuccessfully sought the GOP primary nomination for lieutenant governor in February.






Democrats pick Simon as Quinn's running mate
by Rick Pearson
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
March 27, 2010
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2010/03/democrats-pick-quinn-running-mate-simon-and-turner-are-finalists.html


State Democratic Party leaders today selected Sheila Simon, the daughter of the late Sen. Paul Simon, to be Gov. Pat Quinn's running mate in the general election.

State Rep. Art Turner of Chicago came in second.

Quinn was in Springfield for the selection and hailed the daughter of the late Sen. Paul Simon at a separate news event before the Democratic State Central Committee meeting started.

Democratic leaders are meeting in Springfield today to select a running mate for Gov. Pat Quinn and more than half a dozen finalists get to make their case before the votes are cast by the 38-member Democratic State Central Committee.

Gov. Pat Quinn announced yesterday that he wants his colleagues to pick Sheila Simon, a former Carbondale councilwoman and daughter of the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul Simon. But state Rep. Art Turner of Chicago is also trying to sway the committee, arguing he should get the job because he came in second in the Feb. 2 primary for the Democratic nomination.

Dozens of Turner supporters arrived in a bus at the Springfield banquet hall before the 11 a.m. start of the meeting. Turner is African-American, and black political leaders have suggested Quinn risks snubbing a key Democratic constituency with his choice of Simon.
Quinn and Simon say her downstate roots while help balance a Chicago-centric ticket for the November general election, as well as brining pro-reform credentials in the first election since the ouster of Rod Blagojevich following corruption charges.

The vote of the 38-member committee is weighted to reflect how much of the primary vote was cast in each of the state's 19 congressional districts.