Rich Whitney, the Illinois Green Party's candidate for Governor, demands to be taken more seriously.
In 2006, Whitney overcame a vigorous challenge by the state's Democratic party to appear on the ballot, collecting nearly 15,000 ballots more than the 25,000 required by state law. He went on to outperform all expectations, taking home more than 10 percent of the vote.
That election established the Green Party in the state of Illinois, quite literally: by garnering more than 5 percent, the party gained the official status of "established political party," lowering the thresholds needed to get on statewide ballots and offering the party access to more voter data, among other benefits.
This year, in a race between two less-than-stellar candidates who narrowly escaped their respective primaries, Whitney believes he has a chance.
But the Tribune isn't giving him one, he wrote Monday. From his office, via GreenPartyWatch:
...[o]nce again, the Tribune treat[s] the governor's race as a two-person race. The Trib is acting as if 2006 never happened. This is unacceptable. I would ask you, my supporters, especially those of you who live in or near Chicago or who subscribe to the Trib, to call or write the Trib ASAP and let them know that this is unacceptable and cannot be permitted to continue.
HuffPost Chicago admits to having treated this as a two-person race as well. But we hear you, Rich; we'll keep our ear to the ground for Green Party news.