For secretary of state: Dan Rutherford

Four years ago The News-Gazette, and just about every other newspaper in the state, endorsed Secretary of State Jesse White for a second term. And Illinois voters enthusiastically re-elected White, giving him more votes than any other candidate that year. He carried every one of the state's 102 counties.

But we're concerned that White has gotten lazy about, or at least indifferent to, improprieties in his office. While the secretary of state's office appears to still be doing a competent job serving the people of Illinois, there are what appear to be troubling ethical lapses in White's office. We don't want a recurrence of what happened to White's predecessor, George Ryan.