Whitney to Debate in Marion September 26th

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 13, 2006

RICH WHITNEY INVITED TO SOUTHERN ILLINOIS GUBERNATORIAL DEBATE
Green Party candidate for Illinois Governor invited to participate in

September 26th Gubernatorial Debate.

Contact:
Jennifer Rose, Campaign Manager
Whitney for Governor
www.whitneyforgov.org
618-528-VOTE

Tim Tacker, Communications Director
Whitney for Governor
www.whitneyforgov.org
815-735-6139

Patrick Kelly, Media Coordinator
Illinois Green Party
www.ilgp.org
773-203-9631

Phil Huckelberry, Co-Chair
Illinois Green Party
www.ilgp.org
309-268-9974

Rich Whitney, the Green Party's candidate for Illinois Governor, has
been invited to participate in a gubernatorial debate in Marion,
Illinois, on September 26th, 2006. The debate is co-sponsored by the
Southern Illinoisan, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at SIUC,
and WSIU Public Broadcasting.

Governor Rod Blagojevich and challenger Judy Baar Topinka orally
committed to this debate, and the Topinka campaign has confirmed that
they are fine with Rich Whitney's invitation; however, Blagojevich has
previously indicated that he may not participate if Rich Whitney is
included. A deadline of September 19th has been established for all
three candidates to confirm their participation in the debate.

The Southern Illinois debate committee's invitation was in response
to a recent Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll that showed Rich Whitney
surpassing the 5% support requirement previously established by the
committee.

"The voters deserve to be fully informed and that is what this debate
should be about. We want a fully informed electorate so they can
select the best candidate, with the best proposals for the people.
The only way to do that is to have all the candidates in the
debates," said Rich Whitney.
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