IL: Cohen Readies Independent Run for Governor

From the State Journal Register:

Scott Lee Cohen, the 45-year-old pawnshop owner from Chicago who won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor this spring, only to withdraw after allegations surfaced of past bad behavior, filed petitions Monday as an independent candidate for governor.

“In life, things happen, and sometimes life can beat you down,” Cohen told reporters outside the State Board of Elections in Springfield, where he wheeled in a four-foot stack of paper bearing more than 133,000 signatures – more than five times the 25,000 valid signatures required. “You have to be strong enough to pick yourself up, brush yourself off and move forward.”