Pawnbroker Scott Lee Cohen wanted to be Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, and was going pretty well. Until it emerged that he'd once held a knife to the throat of a then-hooker girlfriend and had injected anabolic steroids.

Illinois Democrats dug deep for this Lieutenant Governor candidate: Scott Lee Cohen is accused of threatening his prostitute ex-girlfriend with a knife, abusing steroids, trying to rape his ex-wife, and terrorizing his children. "That is my parenting style," he explained.