A political newcomer who won the Democratic nomination for Illinois lieutenant governor said Thursday he has no intention of leaving the race after details emerged about his arrest for allegedly holding a knife to his former girlfriend’s throat.
A political newcomer who won the Democratic nomination for Illinois lieutenant governor said Thursday he has no intention of leaving the race after details emerged about his arrest for allegedly holding a knife to his former girlfriend’s throat. Scott Lee Cohen struck a defiant tone even after running mate Gov. Pat Quinn predicted he would have to leave the race. Cohen said people should make up their minds about him after all the facts come to light. "There are questions, and I will provide all answers honestly and openly," he said in a statement. He did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press. Cohen was arrested in 2005 on domestic battery charges, accused of pushing his then-girlfriend’s head against a wall and of the knife incident. The police report noted abrasions on her neck and hand, but the charges were dropped after she failed to appear for a court date. Police records show the woman had been arrested for prostitution, a local newspaper reported. Cohen said he did not know that at the time. He told WTTW-TV’s "Chicago Tonight" program Thursday that he met the woman at a "massage therapy place" where he was a client, and he believed she was a masseuse. He has denied hitting her and described their relationship as "tumultuous." He said he has asked both her and his ex-wife to come forward to clear the air. His ex-wife, Debbie Cohen York, also had accused Cohen of violent behavior and sought an order of protection against him in 2005 as she filed for divorce. She said the violence was fueled by his abuse of anabolic steroids, according to court documents. "Over the past year, my husband has been taking injectable anabolic steroids, including but not limited to Winstrol, Cretine, and Steen. And as a result, he has an erratic, explosive temper," she alleged in the documents. She also claimed he tried to force her to have sex with him and left threatening notes at her home, including some written in lipstick on mirrors. Cohen acknowledged Thursday evening that he used steroids, but denied abusing his former wife. "I never touched her, I never touched any woman," he told WLS-TV. "That’s not my style, that’s not me." York stood by her allegations but said Cohen is a changed man. "At the time, he was going through a different phase," York said. "He was a different person than he is now." She refused to answer questions about pending legal issues between the two, including the status of alimony and child support payments. Cohen, a pawnbroker and owner of a cleaning supplies company, shocked the political establishment by beating four state lawmakers to nab the Democratic nomination with 26 percent of the vote. Illinois voters choose the nominees for governor and lieutenant governor separately — so although Quinn and Cohen didn’t campaign together, they now make up the Democratic ticket. "I don’t think I’m an embarrassment to the ticket," Cohen told "Chicago Tonight." "(Quinn) would be running with the most honest man, the most dedicated person," he said, adding that his presence is a "strength for the party." Cohen stressed that he disclosed information about his arrest before he announced his candidacy but no one paid attention because he wasn’t expected to win the nomination. Quinn said Thursday he first heard of the abuse allegations about Cohen after Tuesday’s primary election. He predicted Cohen ultimately would have to drop out of the race. Cohen gained strong name recognition statewide with a flurry of advertising featuring people who said they got jobs at employment fairs he held. He organized three in Chicago during the past eight months to a year, he said, though he doesn’t know how many people got jobs from them. He said "thousands" of job seekers and an average of 25-30 employers came to the fairs. He raised at least $2 million for his campaign, including more than $1 million in January alone, and most came from his personal fortune. His Facebook page lists him as a 1984 graduate of Niles West High School in Chicago’s northern suburbs. Of the 27 individuals and organizations listed on the endorsements page of Cohen’s campaign Web site, at least a third are fellow clients of the same PR firm, Grainger Terry, and several others received thousands of dollars in donations from Cohen’s campaign fund last year. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.