Ed Scanlan Says He Was Disinvited From Gubernatorial Debate, Implicates Hynes

Long shot gubernatorial candidate Ed Scanlan claims he was disinvited from a Democratic debate and thinks it may have something to do with a rival campaign.

Scanlan, an Oak Park attorney, told the Chicago Sun-Times' Abdon Pallasch that he was invited to participate in the Union League Club debate on November 18th. This week, however, Scanlan says the club told him he isn't welcome unless he can produce a published poll showing him with at least five percent of the vote.

The club has long limited debate participation to candidates garnering at least five percent of the vote, Pallasch reports, but they waived the rule for the recent Republican gubernatorial debate that included five candidates.

"I don't think an invitation was ever extended to Mr. Scanlan," club spokesman Dave Kohn told the Sun-Times.

Scanlan's camp, however, says it was indeed invited and blames state Comptroller Dan Hynes for the supposed retraction.

The cause? The Hynes campaign, looking to corral every vote it can against incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn, has already challenged the legitimacy Scanlan's candidacy petition signatures And Pallasch reports that Hynes' brother called Scanlan questioning why he got in the race in the first place.

Hynes' campaign denied asking for Scanlan to be disinvited from the debate.

The potentially self-funded Scanlan entered the race in October with a call for reform.

"As Albert Einstein said, 'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,'" he said on his campaign web site at the time. "When I realized my party was about to send the same folks from with [sic] the same ideas to do the same things in Springfield again, I knew I had to step up and try to force a change."

He has had virtually no impact on the increasingly bitter primary fight between Hynes and Quinn since.