Bill Daley told reporters this morning that he was dropping his challenge to Democratic governor Pat Quinn in next year’s primary because he was not prepared for the “enormity of the campaign.” Daley, the son of the late Chicago mayor Richard Daley and former chief of staff to President Obama, said that he believes he could have won, and that someone, whether a Democrat or Republican, will oust Quinn from the governorship. “Forgive me for being honest,” he said. “I don’t have a crystal ball. . . . I’ll be proven either a genius or an idiot next year.” He declined to endorse any other candidate in the race.
“The last six weeks or so have been really tough on me, struggling with this, he told the Chicago Tribune yesterday. “Is this really me? Is this really what I want to spend my next five to nine years doing? And is this the best thing for me to do at this stage of my life?” He concluded that it wasn’t.
Quinn issued a statement saying that he “respects Bill Daley’s decision,” and that “a divisive primary would have only helped Republicans who want to take this state backwards and undo the important progress we have made.”