Wood ad scolds Ryan for asking her to quit race

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Corinne Wood's latest campaign commercial scolds Gov. George Ryan, her political mentor, for pressuring her to drop out of the governor's race.

"Recently, party insiders tried to pressure Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood to drop out of the race for governor," the television ad says. "Corinne Wood's respectful answer to Gov. Ryan: No. The voters, not party leaders, should be choosing our next governor."

The ad shows the entrance to Ryan's office with several newspaper headlines superimposed over it, including, "Governor asks Wood to consider dropping out."

Wood spokeswoman Tressa Pankovits said the ad, which will run statewide for two weeks at a cost of $553,000, reassures supporters that Wood is rejecting requests to run for some other office.

"It's very unfortunate that certain narrow-minded people in the Republican Party who happen to hold positions of authority and power felt that was a path to take," Pankovits said Monday.

She would not say whether she was referring to Ryan. Instead, Pankovits referred to a speech in which Ryan said the party had tilted too far to the right and should become more open to more moderate political views.

Ryan chose Wood, then a first-term state representative, as his running mate in 1998. His influence, and that of other GOP leaders, helped ensure she faced no opposition in the primary.

He has praised Wood, saying she would make an excellent governor.

Primary race

But Republican leaders want to avoid a bitter primary battle among Wood, Attorney General Jim Ryan and state Sen. Patrick O'Malley. They proposed several scenarios, including having Jim Ryan stay in the governor's race, Wood run for re-election as lieutenant governor and O'Malley run for treasurer.

The governor denies pressuring Wood to drop out. Spokesman Dennis Culloton said Ryan talked with Wood about her chances and whether a three-way primary would harm the party, but did not try to force her into dropping out.

"He would never pressure her or anyone else into doing anything they didn't want to," Culloton said.

Pankovits said Wood had no control over who ran or did not run for lieutenant governor in 1998. But this time out, Wood wants to make sure voters have a choice, she said, noting that Wood supports abortion rights while the other two candidates do not.

Many women have praised Wood for staying in the race, Pankovits said: "They respect her for standing up to the party establishment, which is basically the boys."

The ad also may help Wood distance herself from her boss, who is not running for re-election. Ryan has extraordinarily low approval ratings in polls.

"Who's she trying to kid?" said Jim Ryan spokesman Dan Curry. "She's Gov. George Ryan's full partner in an administration known for its coziness with insiders.

"I think it will backfire," Curry said. "I think voters are looking for leaders they can trust. They're not looking for smoke and mirrors."