CARBONDALE - It's often said that third party candidates don't win elections, but they decide them.

Southern Illinois has its own contender for the governor's race - Rich Whitney, who is running with the state's Green Party.

Whitney's name will be on the November ballot along with Democratic incumbent Rod Blagojevich and Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka - that is, of course, if he can survive the objections to his filing. Monday is the last business day for filing objections with the State Board of Elections.

It's not that the Democrats think Whitney is a threat - it's just that they "generally believe that everybody ought to play by the rules," which is why the governor's lawyers are examining the 39,000 petitions submitted to get Whitney on the November ballot.

The Illinois Democratic Party and the Blagojevich campaign brush off the notion that Whitney, a civil-right's attorney from Carbondale, will be a "factor" in the coming election. However, they are diligently combing through the petitions.

"I don't want to demean Mr. Whitney and his efforts, but we don't see him as a 'factor,'" said Steve Brown, spokesman of the Illinois Democratic Party. "All I can say right now is that the petitions are being examined by the governor's lawyers. We generally believe that everybody ought to play by the rules."

The State Board of Elections requires 5,000 to 10,000 petition signatures to get established Democratic or Republican candidates on the statewide ticket. However, "new" parties such as the Greens are required to collect 25,000 signatures during a 90-day window to get a spot on the statewide ballot.

Whitney's campaign said Illinois has some of the most restrictive rules in the country as third party eligibility is concerned. The Greens collected 39,000 signatures to make sure they had a cushion to help protect against objections to the validity of the petitions.

"We are cautiously optimistic," Whitney said of surviving a potential challenge. "The Democrats pre-registered to get a copy of our petitions from the State Board of Elections and they have their army of lawyers going through each line. But we have our own machine to fight them back."

Brown said one the petitions are examined, the Blagojevich campaign will decide if there are any further steps that need to be taken and those actions will be announced by the Monday objection deadline.

"We feel pretty confident about governor Blagojevich's record and his chances for success, so we're not totally, overly, concerned," said Sheila Nix, spokeswoman for the Blagojevich campaign. "I think there are a couple third party candidates out there. My guess is that with those third parties, things will all even out."

Mike Lawrence, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, said it's a bit early to start gauging the "Whitney factor," but the early reaction from the Blagojevich camp indicates the Democrats uneasiness with having the Green on the ticket.

"When I see the concern from the Blagojevich campaign, it tells me that they think Whitney would take away some of their votes," Lawrence said. "An election is a referendum on the incumbent. I think there are people who are dissatisfied with Blagojevich will see Whitney as a better choice than Topinka."

The Topinka campaign and the Illinois Republican Party are at the moment sitting back from objecting to Whitney's candidacy.

"We don't have plans to challenge his petition," said Lance Trover of the Topinka campaign. "I don't believe anyone on our staff is concerned about Mr. Whitney at the moment. We're just focused on our campaign."

nicole.sack@thesouthern.com

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