On a night of embarrassing election setbacks for President Obama Tuesday, perhaps none was bigger than losing the governorship in his home state of Illinois to a Republican.
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn lost his bid for a second term to Republican venture capitalist Bruce Rauner. It was the first time since 1892 that the governor of a president’s home state had lost a reelection bid.
Mr. Rauner spent about $30 million of his own money on the race. Mr. Quinn was hampered by a patronage scandal at the state Department of Transportation and a federal probe into alleged political motives behind the use of $54.5 million in anti-crime funds.
The president campaigned for Mr. Quinn in the final weeks of the race, and visited the governor’s campaign headquarters to stump for votes.
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