Beating the Odds for Pat Quinn for Illinois Governor

When Illinois Governor Pat Quinn hired Ben Nuckels to serve as his General Election campaign manager and strategist he was 16 points down in the polls. His opponent, Senator Bill Brady, was a millionaire with a very simple message of lower taxes, less corruption, and “run Illinois like a business.”

Illinois voters were fatigued after the tumultuous term of now-imprisoned former Governor Rod Blagojevich and were looking for something new.

Even famed election prognosticator Nate Silver gave Quinn only a “9.4% chance of winning.”

However, we turned Brady’s perceived strengths to weaknesses… and we never let up. We painted Brady as an out-of-touch multi-millionaire who just didn’t understand the struggles of working people. We made the election about Brady’s values and how he would look at other problems facing the state should he be elected governor.  

No one predicted Quinn’s victory. RealClearPolitics.com declared the Quinn victory the #5 upset in the country. Quinn was the only governor on the list.

Quinn said of his campaign manager, “If you’re in a political knife fight, you’ll want Ben Nuckels on your team. He doesn’t tell you what you want to hear but he tells you what you need to hear to win.”