2010 United States gubernatorial elections in 2010. He was elected with 55% of the vote in 2006. In March 2009 Beebe's approval rating was 68%, according to Public Policy Polling. Jim Keet, a former State Senator, was the Republican nominee. Beebe defeated Keet in a landslide election. Governor Pat Quinn sought a full term in 2010. On January 29, 2009, by succession, Quinn became governor when Governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached, convicted and removed from office by the Illinois State Senate. Quinn was challenged for the Democratic nomination by State Comptroller Dan Hynes. On February 2, Quinn defeated Hynes by a narrow margin in a
2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis fellow Democratic Senator Ruben Diaz, walked out on the Democrats; the two stated that they were not abandoning the Democratic Conference, but that the power struggle must end. Shortly following the attempted change in Senate leadership, Governor David Paterson announced that he would avoid out-of-state travel, saying "the best thing for me to do is to stay here." The New York Constitution states that whenever the governor is out of state, the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor. Since there was no clear line of succession, it was unclear who would have become acting governor, which is a situation the Governor