Democrat Tars Rival in Ill. Race for Governor

Rep. Rod Blagojevich will try to become the first Democrat to win the Illinois governor’s office in 30 years in part by linking his opponent, Republican Jim Ryan, to a bribery scandal involving the outgoing GOP governor.

While Ryan began trying to unify his fractured party Wednesday, Blagojevich referred to the federal investigation of the trading of driver’s licenses for bribes during Gov. George Ryan’s tenure as secretary of state.

Blagojevich (pronounced blah-GOY’-uh-vich) said Jim Ryan, the state attorney general, had evidence of the scandal as early as 1997 but did nothing about it.

“He looked the other way on corruption,” Blagojevich said, calling his opponent “asleep at the switch.”

Federal prosecutors say about $170,000 of bribe money ended up in Gov. Ryan’s campaign fund. The governor has not been charged with wrongdoing.

Jim Ryan, who is not related to the governor, has said it would have been irresponsible to interfere in a federal investigation. He said Wednesday that his opponents tried to raise the issue in the primary “and the voters didn’t buy it.”

He also took a poke at Blagojevich, who like Ryan was a Golden Gloves boxer in his youth.

“I’ll remind you that Rod fought in the Golden Gloves, and I won in the Golden Gloves,” Ryan said.

Illinois is one of 36 states holding elections for governor this year and one of 17 states in which the incumbent isn’t running.

Democrats hope to win here by capitalizing on the sitting governor’s woes. Republicans, worried about losing control of the state House and Senate, see the race as their best bet at keeping some hold over the state.

The two candidates present a stark ideological contrast for Illinois voters, who are known for picking governors who are close to the political middle.

Blagojevich is a liberal anti-gun crusader who supports abortion rights, while Ryan opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and would not back additional restrictions on gun owners.

Both will have to overcome weaknesses exposed during expensive and bruising campaigns before Tuesday’s primaries, from Ryan’s supposed ties to the bribery scandal to Blagojevich’s collection of legal fees while he held a full-time job as a congressman from Chicago.

Blagojevich squeaked by his two opponents with 37% of the vote, winning largely on the support of labor unions and Democratic chairmen outside Chicago. Ryan had a much easier time, taking 45% of the vote.

Republicans hadn’t seen a contested governor’s primary in decades, and the infighting took its toll on the party. Ryan’s opponents battered him on the bribery scandal and his handling of a 1983 murder case when he was DuPage County prosecutor. Three men went to prison--one to death row--but were later released amid questions about the investigation.

State Sen. Patrick O’Malley was far from conciliatory after finishing second in the primary, saying Ryan had many questions to answer if he expected GOP support in November.