Pat Quinn (politician)

Pat Quinn
41st Governor of Illinois
In office January 29, 2009 – January 12, 2015
Lieutenant	Vacant (2009–2011) Sheila Simon (2011–2015)
Preceded by	Rod Blagojevich
Succeeded by	Bruce Rauner
45th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
In office January 13, 2003 – January 29, 2009
Governor	Rod Blagojevich
Preceded by	Corinne Wood
Succeeded by	Sheila Simon
70th Treasurer of Illinois
In office January 14, 1991 – January 9, 1995
Governor	Jim Edgar
Preceded by	Jerome Cosentino
Succeeded by	Judy Baar Topinka
Commissioner of the Cook County Board of Appeals
In office 1982–1986
Preceded by	Seymour Zaban
Succeeded by	Wilson Frost
Personal details
Born	Patrick Joseph Quinn Jr. (1948-12-16) December 16, 1948 (age 76) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Julie Hancock ​ ​ (m. 1982; div. 1986)​
Children	2
Education	Georgetown University (BS) Northwestern University (JD)
Signature

Patrick Joseph Quinn (born December 16, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 41st governor of Illinois from 2009 to 2015. A Democrat, Quinn began his career as an activist by founding the Coalition for Political Honesty, which used citizen-initiated referendum questions to advocate for political reforms,^[1] and later served as a commissioner on the Cook County Board of (Property) Tax Appeals from 1982 to 1986, Illinois State Treasurer from 1991 to 1995, and Lieutenant Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Quinn is a graduate of Georgetown University and Northwestern University School of Law. Quinn began his political career working as an aide to then-Illinois Governor Dan Walker before launching a series of citizen-led petition drives, most notably the 1980 Cutback Amendment, which reduced the size of the Illinois House of Representatives from 177 to 118. It marked the first and only time in state history that Illinois voters had used initiative petition and binding referendum to enact a constitutional amendment or law.

After the passage of the Cutback Amendment, Quinn continued to organize petition drives and was elected as a commissioner on the Cook County Board of (Property) Tax Appeals in 1982; he later served as revenue director in the administration of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. He was elected Treasurer of Illinois in 1990 and ran for secretary of state in 1994, United States senator in 1996, lieutenant governor in 1998, and attorney general in 2018.^[2]

In Illinois' 2002 gubernatorial election, Quinn won the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in the primary and was paired with then-U.S. Representative Rod Blagojevich in the general election. He was sworn into office as lieutenant governor in 2003, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office since 1977. Both Quinn and Blagojevich were reelected in 2006. Quinn assumed the governorship on January 29, 2009, after Governor Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office on corruption charges, with the contrast between the two men prompting the New York Times to call Quinn "the anti-Blagojevich."^[3]

Quinn secured a full term in office in the 2010 gubernatorial election, defeating Republican State Senator Bill Brady by a margin of less than 1% out of about 3.5 million votes cast. The election was ranked by Politico as one of the top upsets that year.^[4] While in office, Quinn worked to provide voters the power to recall a sitting governor, passed a $31 billion capital construction plan,^[5] legalized civil unions and same-sex marriage (prior to the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision by the United States Supreme Court),^[6] expanded access to healthcare with the Affordable Care Act, and abolished the death penalty.^[7]

Quinn was narrowly defeated in 2014 by Republican candidate Bruce Rauner.^[8]

Quinn was born December 16, 1948, in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago, the son of Patrick Joseph "P. J." Quinn and the former Eileen Prindiville.

Quinn's father, P. J., enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the outbreak of World War II, serving in the Pacific Theater aboard several ships including the USS Bon Homme Richard. He served for three years, one month, and 15 days. In a commendation letter from his commanding officer, Quinn is described as “one of the finest men with whom I have ever worked. Extremely capable in his work, he was at all times cheerful, earnest, cooperative, frank, and honest.”^[9] P. J. later worked for the Archdiocese of Chicago.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Eileen Prindiville was born before American women had the right to vote under the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920 and graduated from the Academy of Our Lady in 1935. Eileen worked for decades as an assistant to the principal of the Hinsdale Public Middle School.

P. J. and Eileen Quinn raised three sons in a single-family home in Hinsdale, Illinois, thanks to a mortgage secured by the Veterans Administration.

Quinn attended St. Isaac Jogues in Hinsdale for elementary school before attending Fenwick High School in Oak Park. Quinn was the cross-country team captain and sports editor of the school newspaper. Quinn then on to graduate from Georgetown University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he was a student of Professor Jan Karski and a sports editor for The Hoya.

After serving in state government and spearheading two major petition drives, Quinn earned a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1980, during the fight for the Cutback Amendment.

Quinn is the eldest of three boys. Tom Quinn has been an attorney since 1979 and his proudest moment in the courtroom was winning a legal settlement in a major case that targeted housing discrimination in the south suburbs of Chicago. John Quinn was an American history teacher at Fenwick since 1980 and is an Illinois Hall of Fame basketball coach. He has also received the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. P. J., Eileen, Tom, and John always played energetic roles in their son’s petition and referendum drives and political campaigns.

Quinn's relatives railed from County Mayo in Ireland, where the term boycott was termed following action against unpopular land agent Charles Boycott. Quinn’s grandparents left Ireland in the late 1800s and early 1900s to move to the United States. His paternal grandfather, also named Patrick Quinn, had a stint as a copper miner in Butte, Montana, then came to Chicago’s South Side. In 1915, he opened “Quinn’s Groceries, Meats & Vegetables” in Chicago. His motto was “Quinn for Quality, Quantity and Service.”^[14] Quinn’s father, P. J. Quinn, worked in the family store and graduated from De La Salle High School in 1932.

Before running for public office, Quinn worked as an organizer for Dan Walker in the 1972 Illinois gubernatorial election, working statewide on college campuses (1972 being the first election in which 18-year-olds could vote) before organizing the Metro East and southwestern Illinois in the general. From January 1973 to July 1975, Quinn served as an ombudsman and assistant to the governor for labor and worker safety.^[15]

From July 1975 to December 1982, Quinn served as the executive director of the Coalition for Political Honesty, a volunteer initiative, petition, and referendum organization. From October 1975 to 1976, the Coalition collected signatures and advocated for the Political Honesty Initiative, which called for referendums on three reforms: ending double dipping, conflict-of-interest voting by Illinois legislators, and the practice of advance pay, wherein legislators could collect their entire annual salary on their first day in office. Radio host Wally Phillips of WGN-AM was among the Political Honesty Initiative petition signers and one of its greatest supporters. Petitions containing 635,128 signatures (an all-time record) were filed with the Illinois Secretary of State at the State Capitol on April 30, 1976, leading the General Assembly to quickly pass a bill in May 1976, ending the 100-year-old advance pay practice once and for all by requiring legislators to be paid monthly after doing their work.^[1] The question did not appear on the 1976 ballot following the case of Coalition for Political Honesty v. State Board of Elections, which hinged on whether the word "and" in the 1970 Illinois constitution was "conjunctive" or "disjunctive."^[16]

In 1977, Quinn led a statewide petition drive for open primaries in Illinois, and in 1978, a statewide petition drive for a property tax freeze. On December 16, 1978, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Quinn led a campaign to send 40,000 tea bags to the office of Governor James R. Thompson to protest a 40% pay raise for legislators and the governor.^[17]

Beginning in 1979, Quinn and the Coalition for Political Honesty began a petition drive for what became known as the Cutback Amendment, a provision to reduce the size of the Illinois House of Representatives from 177 to 118 and abolish cumulative voting, requiring House members to run in single-member districts. The proposal was supported by the League of Women Voters. The Illinois General Assembly quickly passed legislation to make it more difficult to pass initiative petitions. After submitting 477,112 signatures, a court struck the question from the ballot, citing the new law, resulting in a lawsuit, Coalition for Political Honesty v. State Board of Elections (II) (1980), the first Illinois Supreme Court case that found that strict scrutiny applied to initiative powers in the Illinois Constitution and which placed the question back on the 1980 ballot.^[18]

Illinois voters approved the Cutback Amendment by a 68.7 percent margin (2,112,224 to 962,325) on November 4, 1980.^[19][20][21] It marked the first and only time in state history that Illinois voters had used initiative petition and binding referendum to enact a constitutional amendment or law.

In 1981 and 1982, Quinn led a petition to amend the 1970 Illinois Constitution with the "Illinois Initiative". This amendment was intended to increase the power of petition and binding referendums in the political process.^[22] The petition drive was successful, but the Illinois Appellate Court ruled in Lousin v. State Board of Elections (1982) that it could not appear on the ballot.^[23]

In 1982, Quinn and the Coalition placed a question on the Chicago ballot calling for a Citizens Utility Board to protect consumers. In 1983, 110 towns in Illinois placed the question on their ballots. On September 20, 1983, Gov. James Thompson signed the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) law (Public Act 83-945) to provide “effective and democratic representation of utility consumers before the Illinois Commerce Commission, the General Assembly, the courts and other public bodies, and by providing consumer education on utility services prices and methods of energy conservation.”

In July 1984, the first CUB membership inserts were included in 3.5 million phone bills. Some 30,000 consumers quickly sent back $5 to join the new group. The next month, 2.3 million gas customers received the CUB insert along with 5 million electric customers in September 1984. Within six months, CUB had grown to 100,000 dues-paying members from all 102 counties in Illinois.^[24]

In 1982, Quinn won the Democratic primary to serve as a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Appeals, now known as the Cook County Board of Review.^[22] In a three-way primary for two spots, Quinn was able to beat one of the incumbents who had presided over a scandal in which 37 people were convicted for fixing property tax appeal cases. Quinn was regarded as a positive reforming figure on the Board of Appeals, which had long been regarded to be plagued by corruption.

In his term in office, the board resisted awarding excessive tax rebates to politically-connected wealthy individuals, as the board had long done. During his first year, this largely resulted in tax rebates awarded by the board decreasing from $444 million in the preceding year to $75 million. This had an effect of increasing the county's tax revenue.^[25] During his time on the board, Quinn was also instrumental in the creation of the "Citizens Utility Board", a consumer watchdog organization.^[26]

Quinn did not seek re-election to the board, and was succeeded by Chicago alderman Wilson Frost.

In 1986, Quinn chose to run in the Democratic primary for Illinois treasurer in a four-way primary that also included incumbent treasurer James Donnewald, former treasurer Jerome Cosentino, and LaRouche movement member Robert D. Hart (who had the formal backing of Lyndon LaRouche's NDPC).^[27]

In the March 18, 1986, Democratic primary, Donnelwald lost to his predecessor, Cosentino, 29.47% to 30.22%, with Quinn coming in a close third with 26.18%.^[28][29]

Quinn served in the administration of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington as revenue director, being appointed by Mayor Washington in early 1987.^[26][30][31] While in the middle of his 1987 re-election campaign, Washington appointed Quinn to oversee a revenue department which had become scandal-ridden. However, Quinn did not last long in the position, and was dismissed by Washington from this position in June 1987. Quinn alleged that Washington's administration had fought against his efforts to reform the troubled department.^[32]

Around this time, Quinn served on the local school council of Sayre Magnet School on Chicago's West Side.^[33] Quinn After the death in office of Cook County Board of Appeals commissioner Harry H. Semrow, Quinn considered running in the special election (held in 1988) to fill Semrow's seat.^[32]

Quinn won the 1990 election for Illinois treasurer, defeating Peg McDonnell Breslin in the Democratic primary and Greg Baise in the general election.^[34][35] Quinn campaigned as a populist reformer in opposition to big government.^[33]

He pledged during his campaign that he would seek to transform the office into a consumer advocate-style position.^[33] As a candidate, he refused to take campaign contributions from banking officials.^[33] He also pledged as a candidate to modernize the office and maximize returns on state deposits through use of electronic fund transfers and through expanding linked-deposit programs.^[33] He released an "Invest in Illinois" plan which proposed competitive bidding from financial institutions wanting to be state depositories.^[33] He also promised that he would not deposit or invest assets used to pay employee retirement benefits in junk bonds.^[33] He also pledged to implement a professional code of ethics for the office's employees.^[33]

He served in the position of Illinois Treasurer from 1991 to 1995. During this period, he was publicly critical of Illinois Secretary of State and future governor, George Ryan. Specifically, he drew attention to special vanity license plates that Ryan's office provided for cronies and the politically connected. This rivalry led Quinn to unsuccessfully challenge Ryan in the 1994 general election for Secretary of State, winning the Democratic primary but losing in the general.^[36][37]

Quinn then took his aspirations to the national stage. When United States Senator Paul Simon chose not to seek re-election in 1996, Quinn entered the race. However Dick Durbin won the Democratic primary and eventually the Senate seat.^[38]

Quinn sought the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 1998, but was narrowly defeated by Mary Lou Kearns. Quinn did not initially accept the count and charged fraud, but several weeks after the election he declined to ask the Illinois Supreme Court for a recount and endorsed Kearns.

In 1998, Quinn protested an increase in state legislators' salaries by urging citizens to send tea bags to the governor, Jim Edgar. The tactic was a reference to the Boston Tea Party.^[39] As lieutenant governor, he would later repeat this tactic in 2006, urging consumers to include a tea bag when paying their electricity bills, to protest rate hikes by Commonwealth Edison.^[40]

Quinn won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in March 2002, and subsequently won the general election on the Democratic ticket alongside gubernatorial nominee, Rod Blagojevich. In Illinois, candidates for lieutenant governor and governor at that time ran in separate primary elections, but were conjoined as a single ticket for the general election.^[22] This same ticket won re-election in 2006, where Quinn was unopposed in the primary.^[23] While Lieutenant Governor, according to his official biography, his priorities were consumer advocacy, environmental protection, health care, broadband deployment, and veterans' affairs.^[41]

On December 14, 2008, when Quinn was asked about his relationship with Blagojevich, he said, "Well, he's a bit isolated. I tried to talk to the Governor, but the last time I spoke to him was in August of 2007. I think one of the problems is the Governor did sort of seal himself off from all the statewide officials ... Attorney General Madigan and myself and many others."^[42] Blagojevich had announced in 2006 that Quinn was not to be considered part of his administration.^[43]

On January 29, 2009, Rod Blagojevich was removed from office by a vote of 59–0 by the Illinois State Senate.^[44] Quinn became Governor of Illinois.^[45]

In the Democratic primary for governor in 2010, Quinn defeated State Comptroller Daniel Hynes with 50.4% of the vote.^[46] On March 27, 2010, Illinois Democratic leaders selected Sheila Simon to replace Scott Lee Cohen on the ballot, after Cohen won the February 2010 Democratic primary to be Illinois' Lieutenant Governor, but later withdrew amid controversies involving his personal life.^[47] In the general election Quinn's campaign aired television ads produced by Joe Slade White that repeatedly asked the question of his opponent, "Who is this guy?"^[48] Ben Nuckels was the general election Campaign Manager and was named a "Rising Star of Politics" by Campaigns & Elections magazine for his efforts with Quinn.^[49]

Quinn won the general election on November 2, 2010, by a narrow margin against Republican candidate Bill Brady. 47% to 46% ^[50] Quinn's victory was named by RealClearPolitics.com as the No. 5 General Election upset in the country; Politico said it was the 7th closest gubernatorial in American history.^[51]

Quinn declared a run for re-election for 2014.^[52] In the summer of 2013, former White House Chief of Staff and former United States Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley declared a run for governor in the Democratic Primary against Quinn, but later dropped out.^[53][54] Quinn chose Paul Vallas, the former Chicago Public Schools CEO, as his running-mate.^[55] Quinn was challenged in the Democratic Primary by Tio Hardiman, the former director of CeaseFire, but won 72% to 28% and faced Republican businessman Bruce Rauner for the general election.

The majority of major Illinois newspapers endorsed Rauner,^[56] but Quinn was endorsed by the Chicago Defender,^[57] the Rockford Register Star,^[58] and The Southern Illinoisan.^[59]

Quinn was defeated by Rauner in the general election, 50% to 46%. He lost every county except Cook County. His term as governor ended on January 12, 2015.

As governor, Quinn faced a state with a reputation for corruption—the two previous governors both went to federal prison—and after two years polls showed Quinn himself was the "Nation's most unpopular governor."^[60] The main issue was a fiscal crisis in meeting the state's budget and its long-term debt as the national economic slump continued and Illinois did poorly in terms of creating jobs. Quinn spoke often to the public and met regularly with state leaders, in stark contrast to Rod Blagojevich's seclusion from others. On August 20, 2013 Quinn signed a bill into law that raised the rural interstate speed limit in Illinois to 70 mph. It was previously 65 mph. The bill also raised the speed limit on the Illinois Toll Road. The law became effective at midnight January 1, 2014.

Quinn announced several "belt-tightening" programs to help curb the state deficit. In July 2009, Quinn signed a $29 billion capital bill to provide construction and repair funds for Illinois roads, mass transit, schools, and other public works projects. The capital bill, known as "Illinois Jobs Now!", was the first since Governor George H. Ryan's Illinois FIRST plan, which was enacted in the late-1990s.^[61] On July 7, 2009, he for the second time in a week vetoed a budget bill, calling it "out of balance", his plan being to more significantly fix the budget gap in Illinois.^[62] In March 2009, Quinn called for a 1.5 percentage point increase in the personal income tax rate. To help offset the increased rate, he also sought to triple the amount shielded from taxation (or the "personal exemption") – from $2,000 per person to $6,000.^[63] However, the bill that eventually passed increased the personal income tax by 2%.

With the state budget deficit projected to hit $15 billion in 2011, the legislature in early 2011 raised the personal income tax from 3% to 5%, and the corporation profits tax 4.8% to 7%. Governor Quinn's office projected the new taxes will generate $6.8 billion a year, enough to balance the annual budget and begin reducing the state's backlog of about $8.5 billion in unpaid bills.^[64] A report from the Civic Federation in September 2011 projected a $8.3 billion deficit to end the budget year.^[65]

After three years of tax increases for workers and businesses, ending with an increase in corporate taxes in 2011 from 5% to 7%, the national recession left the economy in trouble. During an annual budget address on February 22, 2012 to the Illinois Legislature, Quinn warned that the state's financial system was nearing collapse.^[66][67] The Associated Press reported that Quinn feared Illinois was "on the verge of a financial meltdown because of pension systems eating up every new dollar and health care costs climbing through the roof."^[68] According to the Civic Federation, Illinois is only able to remain solvent by not paying its bills on time.^[67] Quinn advocated Medicaid and healthcare cuts totaling $1.6 billion in 2012; critics including Democratic State Representative Mary E. Flowers stated the cuts would remove hundreds of thousands of the poor and elderly from public health programs.^[69] The unprecedented cuts were too small to resolve the long-term issue according to rating agencies that downgraded Illinois to the lowest credit rating of any US state in 2012. As of November 2012, unpaid pension obligations totaled $85 billion with a backlog of $8 billion.^[70]

In an effort to reduce the state's financial obligations, in November 2012 Quinn cancelled contracts with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Union officials contended that "Quinn wanted concessions so deep that they are an insult to every state employee," while the administration contended that the state is paying salaries and benefits at levels that "exceed the salaries and benefits of other unionized state workers across the country."^[70] As of December 2012, Illinois had the fifth highest unemployment rate in the United States, and by March 2013, Illinois public-employee pension liability reached $100 billion.^[71][72]

Pat Quinn has been a major supporter of the controversial Illiana Expressway.^[73]

In 2009, Quinn signed into law the Video Gaming Act which legalized the use of video gambling machines in Illinois. Quinn had previously denounced video gambling as a "bad bet". Quinn said the legislation was necessary to make up revenue due to the recession. A 2019 ProPublica investigation found that Illinois gambling regulators were underfunded and understaffed, and the gambling failed to meet projected revenues for the state's public coffers.^[74]

On January 5, 2009, Quinn appointed Patrick M. Collins to chair the Illinois Reform Commission, which was tasked with making recommendations for ethical reform for Illinois government.^[75][76]

On February 20, 2009, Quinn called for the resignation of US Senator Roland Burris, the man appointed to the United States Senate by Blagojevich to fill the vacant seat created by the resignation of Barack Obama. He changed his position, however, following pressure from prominent African Americans who threatened electoral repercussions.^[77]

On March 3, 2009, the Associated Press reported that Quinn had "paid his own expenses" many times as lieutenant governor, contradicting Blagojevich's accusations against Quinn.^[78][79] As a rule, he either paid his own way, or stayed at "cut rate hotels" (such as Super 8), and never charged the state for his meals.^[79][80]

In June 2009, Quinn launched a panel, chaired by Abner Mikva, to investigate unethical practices at the University of Illinois amid fears that a prior investigation would be ineffective in instituting necessary reforms. The panel was charged with searching the admissions practices, amid reports that the public university was a victim of corruption.^[81] The panel found evidence of favoritism and its investigation culminated in the resignation of all but two University trustees.^[82]

In Spring 2014, federal prosecutors and the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission launched an investigation into Quinn's $55 million Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, a program launched weeks before 2010 election.^[83][84]

On October 22, a federal judge appointed an independent monitor to oversee hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation. This followed a three-year investigation by the Illinois executive inspector general that uncovered politically motivated hiring at IDOT, which started under Gov. Blagojevich.^[85][86]

Quinn won generally high praise for his leadership on environmental issues, going back at least as far as when he was lieutenant governor, where he helped develop annual statewide conferences on green building, created a state day to celebrate and defend rivers,^[87] and promoted measures such as rain gardens for water conservation. As governor, Quinn helped pass measures on solar and wind energy,^[88] including sourcing electricity for the state capitol from wind power, and helped secure funding for high-speed rail in the midwest corridor. As Governor and Lt. Governor, Quinn Co-Chaired the Illinois Green Government Council, a council that focused on greening state government and reducing waste. The Illinois Green Government Council produced public annual sustainability reports tracking overall state government energy usage, fuel usage, water usage, and waste ^[89] In 2010 and 2014, the Sierra Club, Illinois's largest environmental group, endorsed Quinn, calling him "The Green Governor."^[90][91] Quinn faced protests and strong opposition from environmentalists after his support for a controversial law to regulate and launch fracking.

On March 9, 2011, Quinn signed the bill which abolished the death penalty in Illinois.^[92] On signing the bill, Quinn stated,

"It is impossible to create a perfect system, one that is free of all mistakes, free of all discrimination with respect to race or economic circumstance or geography. To have a consistent, perfect death penalty system, I have concluded, after looking at everything I've been given, that that's impossible in our state. I think it's the right and just thing to abolish the death penalty."^[93]

In an interview with The New York Times, Quinn attributed his decision to the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin who had argued until the end of his life for a “consistent ethic of life" that included opposing capital punishment. To date, capital punishment is still outlawed in Illinois.^[94] In 2011, Quinn received the Courageous Leadership Award from Death Penalty Focus.^[95]

On May 17, 2012, Quinn appointed Brandon Bodor to be Executive Director of the Serve Illinois Commission. On September 11, 2012, the two announced that the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) had awarded $8.4 million to enable 1,200 volunteers in 29 AmeriCorps programs to better serve Illinois communities.^[96]

Quinn is an advocate for gun control, supporting an assault weapons ban, high-capacity magazine ban and universal background checks for Illinois.^[97] Quinn has also been known for criticizing concealed carry legislation in Illinois (which would allow a person to have a concealed handgun on their person in public), and the National Rifle Association of America.^[98] Despite this opposition, the Illinois General Assembly legalized concealed carry in the state on July 9, 2013, overriding Quinn's veto. This made Illinois the last state in the U.S. to enact this type of legislation.^[99]

In Quinn's 2013 State of the State address, he declared his commitment to the legalization of same sex marriage.^[100] After a months-long battle in the legislature, Quinn signed the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act into law^[101] on November 20, 2013, before a crowd of thousands, making Illinois the 16th state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage.^[102] He had previously signed a bill legalizing civil unions on January 31, 2011.^[103]

Quinn has kept a low profile since leaving office, volunteering for causes like veterans' affairs and consumer protection.^[104] Quinn has been critical of his successor, Bruce Rauner, calling him "anti-worker" and "dishonest." He has stated that he is interested in grassroots petitions.^[105]

On June 12, 2016, Quinn announced a new petition drive called Take Charge Chicago to put a binding referendum on the Chicago ballot to place a two-term limit on the Mayor of Chicago and create a new elected position called the Consumer Advocate.^[106][107] As of mid-2017, that is still ongoing.

On October 27, 2017, Quinn announced he would run for Illinois Attorney General in the 2018 election.^[2] Quinn was generally regarded as the most well-known candidate in the race,^[108] however he narrowly lost the nomination to State Senator Kwame Raoul on March 20, 2018.

For the 2020 election cycle, Quinn championed a citizens initiated ballot item which would ask voters in Evanston whether they believed that the city should adopt a system under which binding citizen initiated referendums to create city ordinances would be allowed. This ballot question was rejected by the city's election board, a decision subsequently upheld in the Circuit Court of Cook County and the Illinois Appeals Court.^[109][110]

During the 2023 Chicago mayoral election, Quinn flirted with the idea of running for Chicago mayor, going as far as collecting signatures to appear on the ballot.^[111] However, he declined to run in the election and subsequently endorsed U.S. Representative Chuy Garcia's candidacy in the first round of voting,^[112] and then his former running mate Paul Vallas in the run-off.^[113]

Democratic primary results, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kwame Raoul	374,667	30.2
	Democratic	Pat Quinn	340,163	27.4
	Democratic	Sharon Fairley	156,070	12.6
	Democratic	Nancy Rotering	115,974	9.3
	Democratic	Scott Drury	98,246	7.9
	Democratic	Jesse Ruiz	67,706	5.5
	Democratic	Renato Mariotti	49,891	4.0
	Democratic	Aaron Goldstein	37,987	3.1
Total votes			1,159,701	100

Illinois gubernatorial election, 2014^[114]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bruce Rauner/Evelyn Sanguinetti	1,823,627	50.27
	Democratic	Pat Quinn/Paul Vallas (Incumbent)	1,681,343	46.35
	Libertarian	Chad Grimm/Alex Cummings	121,534	3.35
	Write-In	Various candidates	1,186	0.03
Majority			142,284	3.92%
Total votes			3,627,690	100
	Republican gain from Democratic

Democratic primary results^[115]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Pat Quinn (Incumbent)	321,818	71.94
	Democratic	Tio Hardiman	125,500	28.06
Total votes			447,318	100

Illinois gubernatorial election, 2010^[116]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Pat Quinn (Incumbent)	1,745,219	46.79%	−3.00%
	Republican	Bill Brady	1,713,385	45.94%	+6.68%
	Independent	Scott Lee Cohen	135,705	3.64%
	Green	Rich Whitney	100,756	2.70%	−7.66%
	Libertarian	Lex Green	34,681	0.93%
Majority			31,834	0.85%	−9.68%
Turnout			3,729,989
	Democratic hold		Swing

Democratic primary results^[117]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Pat Quinn (Incumbent)	462,049	50.46
	Democratic	Dan Hynes	453,677	49.54
Total votes			915,726	100.00

• 2006 Election for Governor/Lieutenant Governor of Illinois^[118]
  • Rod Blagojevich/Pat Quinn (D) (inc.), 49.79%
  • Judy Baar Topinka/Joe Birkett (R), 39.26%
  • Rich Whitney/Julie Samuels (Green), 10.36%^{[citation needed]}
• 2002 Election for Governor / Lieutenant Governor
  • Rod Blagojevich/Pat Quinn (D), 52%
  • Jim Ryan/Carl Hawkinson (R), 45%

• 1994 – Illinois Secretary of State
  • George Ryan (R) (inc.)^[34] 61.5%
  • Pat Quinn (D) 38.5%

• 1990 – Illinois Treasurer^[34]
  • Pat Quinn (D) 55.7%
  • Greg Baise (R) 44.3%

Treasurer Democratic primary^[119]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jerry Cosentino	241,006	30.22
	Democratic	James H. Donnewald (incumbent)	235,052	29.47
	Democratic	Patrick Quinn	208,775	26.18
	Democratic	Robert D. Hart	112,645	14.13
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			797,478	100

• Barone, Michael, and Chuck McCutcheon, The Almanac of American Politics: 2012 (2011) pp 512–14

• Illinois Governor Pat Quinn official Illinois government site
• Pat Quinn campaign website
• Pat Quinn for Governor
• Appearances on C-SPAN

- - -

Political offices
Preceded by Jerome Cosentino	Treasurer of Illinois 1991–1995	Succeeded by Judy Topinka
Preceded by Corinne Wood	Lieutenant Governor of Illinois 2003–2009	Succeeded by Sheila Simon
Preceded by Rod Blagojevich	Governor of Illinois 2009–2015	Succeeded by Bruce Rauner
Party political offices
Preceded by Jerome Cosentino	Democratic nominee for Treasurer of Illinois 1990	Succeeded by Nancy Drew Sheehan
	Democratic nominee for Secretary of State of Illinois 1994	Succeeded by Jesse White
Preceded by Mary Lou Kearns	Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois 2002, 2006	Succeeded by Sheila Simon
Preceded by Rod Blagojevich	Democratic nominee for Governor of Illinois 2010, 2014	Succeeded by J. B. Pritzker
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Rod Blagojevich as Former Governor	Order of precedence of the United States	Succeeded by Bruce Rauner as Former Governor