"I'm someone who made mistakes in my life. And look where I am. If I let you down I'm sorry."

Scott Lee Cohen has withdrawn his name as the Democratic nominee for Illinois lieutenant governor.

For days, the pawn broker-turned Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor was dogged over allegations he abused anabolic steroids, went into fits of rage, sexually abused his then-wife, got behind in child support payments and held a knife to the throat of a former girlfriend who is a convicted prostitute.

But Cohen was never convicted of a crime and said he'd moved on from the transgressions of his past. And after spending a couple of million dollars of his own money on his campaign, he initially refused to step aside.

Democratic candidate for governor, Pat Quinn, called Cohen's decision "the right decision" for the party. "Now we can continue to focus our efforts on putting our economy back on track and working to bring good jobs to Illinois," Quinn said in a statement.