From The New York Times:

Top 2 Republicans Feuding in Illinois Over Bribes Scandal
By JODI WILGOREN

CHICAGO, July 8 — Attorney General Jim Ryan, the Republican nominee for governor, said today that the incumbent, George Ryan, a fellow party member, should explain his role in a continuing driver's-licenses-for-bribes scandal or step down.

The comments, made after a meeting of the party's state central committee in suburban Oak Brook, were the harshest yet in the increasingly chilly relationship between the state's top two Republicans, who are not related and have hardly spoken in recent months.

The sweeping corruption scandal dating to Governor Ryan's term in the 1990's as secretary of state has led to indictments of 50 people, including one of the governor's closest advisers, as well as his campaign committee. The governor himself has not been implicated.

Dan Curry, a spokesman for Jim Ryan's campaign, said his boss would not "stand idly by while the hard-working and honest men and women of the Republican Party are being unfairly maligned by a broad brush linking them to scandal because of the transgressions of a few."

"It's a distraction from a comparison between Jim Ryan and Rod Blagojevich," Mr. Curry said, referring to the congressman who is the Democratic nominee for governor. "That's what the election should be. It shouldn't be about the cloud of George Ryan."

The governor, who was in Springfield today, issued a terse statement: "I will not resign. I have no reason to resign. Jim Ryan should be more focused on the issues of the upcoming election and the state's Republican ticket, while I will continue to focus on matters of state government especially the state's budget."