Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Rod Blagojevich, accused by federal prosecutors of trying to sell President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat, was removed as Illinois governor after the state’s Senate unanimously convicted him of abuse of power.

The two-term Democrat was the first governor impeached in the 190-year history of the state and the fourth of the past seven to be arrested. His predecessor, Republican George Ryan, is serving a 6 1/2-year prison sentence for corruption.

Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, 60, succeeded Blagojevich as the state’s chief executive. He was sworn in last night, entering the House of Representatives chamber to a standing ovation.

“What happened yesterday was necessary,” Quinn said at a statehouse press conference today at which he signed an executive order chartering the Illinois Reform Commission. “It’s time for us to repair the damage.”

All 59 members of the Illinois General Assembly’s upper house voted to oust Blagojevich, hours after he delivered a 45- minute speech from the well of the Senate chamber asking them to spare him.

Blagojevich told lawmakers he never “intended to violate any law” and that his conviction would set a “dangerous precedent.”

The Senate also voted unanimously to ban Blagojevich from holding public office in Illinois. The ex-governor, 52, had boycotted the trial, claiming its rules prevented him from calling witnesses or challenging the charges.

Fight ‘Goes On’

“I’m obviously saddened and disappointed but not at all surprised by what the state Senate did today,” Blagojevich told reporters outside his Chicago home last night. The fight for causes he believes in “goes on,” he said.

Quinn also a Democrat, asked former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins to chair the reform commission this month. Collins, now a partner in the Chicago office of Seattle-based Perkins Coie, won the 2006 corruption conviction of Ryan.

The reform panel is expected to issue a report covering campaign finance, transparency in government and other topics within 100 days, Quinn said today.

The new governor said he will travel to Chicago later today for a meeting with the state’s four other statewide office holders, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Comptroller Dan Hynes, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Secretary of State Jesse White, all of whom are Democrats.

Quoting Reagan

Citing former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, an Illinois native and a Republican, Quinn said, “Its unbelievable what human beings can accomplish when no one’s worried about who gets the credit.”

Obama, who was an Illinois state senator for eight years, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that it was the end of a “painful episode.” Obama said, “I wish Governor Quinn the best and pledge my full cooperation as he undertakes his new responsibilities.”

Blagojevich still faces federal criminal charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and solicitation of a bribe. Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in December accused him of trying to trade the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Obama for campaign cash or other favors.

Blagojevich has repeatedly said he is innocent of the charges.

Impeachment Vote

Illinois’s House of Representatives voted 114-1 to impeach Blagojevich on Jan. 9. Yesterday in the state Senate, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 37 to 22, not one lawmaker defended Blagojevich during more than two hours of member speeches leading up to the vote.

Blagojevich faced 13 distinct allegations in the House Article of Impeachment. Senators were able to vote for removal if they found any one of the charges to be true.

The chamber’s rules were modeled after those used in the impeachment trials of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who was acquitted in a 1999 U.S. Senate trial, according Illinois Senate President John Cullerton.

“We did not do this for political expediency,” said Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, told reporters after Blagojevich was ousted. “He has demonstrated a clear inability to govern.”

Blagojevich, born in Chicago, graduated from Northwestern University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1979, and from Pepperdine University Law School, where he obtained a law degree in 1983. He worked as a lawyer in private practice, then as a Cook County, Illinois, prosecutor during the 1980s. He was elected to the legislature in 1993, where he served for three years. He later won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served from 1997 until 2003 when he became governor.

‘Golden Goose’

Illinois House prosecutor David Ellis told the Senate in his closing argument at the impeachment trial that Blagojevich sought to use his office to profit, personally and professionally.

Blagojevich “saw his ability to appoint a U.S. senator as a golden goose,” Ellis told the tribunal. “He was trying to trade that Senate seat for something of value to himself.”

Six witnesses testified during the four-day trial, including FBI agent Daniel Cain, who wrote the 76-page affidavit underpinning the federal criminal charges against Blagojevich. State Auditor General William Holland testified that the governor took actions outside the boundaries of state and federal law.

‘Utter Contempt’

“The governor showed a complete and utter contempt for the law,” Ellis said.

Blagojevich didn’t appear before the tribunal while it was hearing evidence. Earlier this month, Chicago criminal defense lawyer Edward Genson, who had defended the Blagojevich during the House proceedings, said he was withdrawing as his impeachment counsel. A week later, Genson quit the criminal- defense team, too.

Standing in the Illinois Senate well during what he called a closing argument to legislators sitting in judgment of him, Blagojevich said he was appealing to their “sense of fairness.”

“I can’t imagine how you can throw me out,” he said.

Blagojevich’s successor, Quinn, served as Illinois state treasurer from 1991 to 1995. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago and holds a degree in international economics from Georgetown University in Washington.

In 2001, he walked across the state from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan to raise awareness of the need for universal health care, according to his Web site, standingupforillinois.org.

“We’ve had a body blow to our politics and government in the last seven weeks and two days, but that’s over,” he said at today’s press conference. “We’re going to fumigate state government from top to bottom.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in Springfield, Illinois, at aharris16@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 30, 2009 14:30 EST