Pat Quinn (politician) - Political Activism

Political Activism

Before running for public office, Quinn was involved in political action, serving as an aide to Governor Daniel Walker. He was first put on the political map in the late 1970s by leading a petition to amend the 1970 Illinois Constitution with the "Illinois Initiative". This amendment was intended to increase the power of public referendums in the political process and recalls for public officials. The petition drive was successful, but the Illinois Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the Illinois Initiative was an "unconstitutional constitutional amendment," and thus never was presented to voters.

Quinn drew more attention to his causes by holding press conferences on Sundays, seen as a slow news day. While still in law school, Quinn scored his first political success in 1980, earning a reputation as a reformer on the Illinois political scene. Through his organization, "The Coalition for Political Honesty," he initiated and led the statewide campaign for the Cutback Amendment to the Illinois Constitution, ultimately reducing the size of the Illinois House of Representatives from 177 to 118 members. This also earned him some enemies among reformers and long-time observers of the legislature, since multi-member districts and the cumulative voting system enabled insurgents to break even with machine-affiliated incumbents with the support of only half the number of voters. Challengers could ask voters for all three of their votes, while party organizations had to divide their votes among two candidates. The old system also produced some of the most effective legislators in Springfield by permitting the minority party one of three seats in each district.