"Scott Lee Cohen... was arrested about four-and-a-half years ago and accused of holding a knife to a former live-in girlfriend's neck"

Cohen won the Democratic party's nomination for lieutenant governor of Illinois in Tuesday's primary. Yep, we sure know how to pick 'em here in this fine state.

Cohen -- who records show also had federal tax troubles that he says he has settled -- denied in a written statement that he ever hurt the ex-girlfriend or his family. Cohen disclosed his domestic violence arrest when he announced his candidacy, but the details about the knife and prostitution case didn't surface in the campaign, as Cohen was considered a longshot.

"It was a difficult time in my life. I was going through a divorce, and I fell in with the wrong crowd," Cohen said. "I was in a tumultuous relationship with the woman I was dating. We had a fight, but I never touched her."

He fell in with the wrong crowd. Is he talking about Chicago-style politicians?