Patrick Joseph Quinn Jr. (born December 16, 1948) is an American lawyer and 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. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Quinn is a graduate of Georgetown University and Northwestern University School of Law. Quinn began his career as a tax attorney in private practice before working as an aide to then-Illinois Governor Dan Walker. He was elected to one term as a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Appeals, serving from 1982 to 1986; he later served as revenue director in the administration of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. Quinn served as Treasurer of Illinois from 1991 to 1995. 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. Quinn assumed the governorship on January 29, 2009, after Governor Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office on corruption charges. Quinn was narrowly elected to a full term in office in 2010, defeating Republican State Senator Bill Brady by a margin of less than 1% out of about 3.5 million votes cast. Quinn was narrowly defeated in 2014 by Republican candidate Bruce Rauner.[2] Quinn unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Illinois in 2018.