Dear Friends,

The Illinois Green Party is about to embark on its most ambitious campaign year ever. For the first time, we are running a full slate of candidates for all Constitutional offices in the State. I was honored to be selected as our first candidate for Governor, and I am proud to be running with Julie Samuels as our candidate for Lieutenant Governor, David Black for Attorney General, Rev. Dan Rodriguez-Schlorff for Treasurer, Karen Young for Secretary of State, and Alicia Snyder for Comptroller. In addition, we expect to be running a record number of candidates for the Illinois legislature and local and county offices.

This campaign poses a tremendous challenge. Because we are considered a "new" political party under State law, and the Democrats and Republicans have written the election code to benefit themselves, we will have to collect 25,000 valid petition signatures statewide in order to get on the November ballot, all between March 28 and June 26, 2006. Because the corporate parties are certain to challenge our petitions, our actual goal is to collect 45,000 signatures, in order to ensure our place on the ballot.

This will be a huge undertaking – but with your help, and the help of all citizens who want a better, progressive choice on the ballot – we can meet this goal. The time is ripe for the people of Illinois to break away from the two parties that are controlled by corporate power and money, and embrace the one party that is not – the party that follows its values and progressive political principles, the Green Party.

The voters are ready. Only the most entrenched Democrats will dare to call us "spoilers" for trying to unseat the likes of Rod Blagojevich. Despite having a Democratic majority in both houses of the legislature, the Blagojevich administration has given us disastrous state budgets that have caused our schools and public services to deteriorate, threatened state workers’ and teachers’ pensions, and sent college tuition and fees climbing ever higher. Our schools are a disgrace, ranking 48th in the nation in per pupil spending – but first in inequality. Yet Rod Blagojevich refuses to support essential tax reforms, choosing instead to mortgage our children’s future and our state pensioners’ future with short-term quick fixes, more bond sales, and more state-sponsored gambling. Meanwhile, at a time when our State – and the world – demand bold new initiatives to save our planet from environmental catastrophe, the Illinois Environmental Council gave Rod Blagojevich a grade of one "B" and three "D"s on his mid-term report card.  

Of course, most Illinois voters are unlikely to be too thrilled to vote for a Republican, either. Not when the presidency of George Bush is bringing the country to ruin and international disgrace at a dizzying pace – and not when they are getting constant reminders of the corruption of the George Ryan administration.

Most voters are getting sick of having to choose between a Republican leadership that is shameless and a Democratic leadership that is spineless. The Greens can give them new hope, the hope that can only come from a grassroots party that refuses corporate campaign contributions; a party that aims to restore government of, by and for the people, instead of government dominated by big money.

In this gubernatorial race, I am the only candidate who will:

• Veto any further mobilization of the Illinois National Guard for service in the illegal, immoral, and wasteful war in Iraq.

• Address global warming and our costly reliance on oil and natural gas, by proposing a job-creating "New Deal" to push sustainable energy sources like solar, wind, and biomass, as well as energy-efficient transportation, like light rail.

• Fight for fair and equitable state taxes, with responsible budgeting that will allow us to provide quality education, improve public services, and meet state pension obligations.

• Fight for universal health care through a single-payer system, which will deliver better quality health care than the current private-insurer-based system, while removing a major burden from businesses and workers alike.

We are ready to make political history in Illinois in 2006. With a lot of effort, we can make a real change for the better by getting Greens elected to office at the State level.

The time is ripe. We have the candidates. We have the message. We have the values. What we need now is your commitment and support to make it happen. Please consider joining the Illinois Green Party, donating to the effort to get our state slate on the ballot, and volunteering to help collect the signatures necessary to give the voters of Illinois a real choice this November. Can we please count on you to help us out in whatever way you can, with a donation to support our ballot access drive – and with a pledge to help out our State slate campaign in 2006? Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

For Greener Pastures Ahead,

Rich Whitney

Candidate for Governor

Illinois Green Party

www.whitneyforgov.org