SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois Green Party will have a full slate of candidates running in the Feb. 2 primary election.

On Friday, the upstart party filed nominating petitions for statewide offices.

Leading the ticket again will be Rich Whitney, a Carbondale attorney who ran for the post in 2006 and helped the party gain easier access to the ballot this time around.

Along with Whitney, others running on the Green ticket include: LeAlan Jones of Chicago for U.S. Senate; Don Crawford of St. Elmo for lieutenant governor; Adrian Frost of Plano for secretary of state; Scott Summers of Harvard for treasurer; and Erika Schafer of Chicago for comptroller.

David Black of Belvidere is again running for attorney general. He also ran for attorney general in the 2006 election.

The party is hoping to double the number of candidates running for legislative and local positions after fielding 56 candidates in the 2008 election.

In the 115th House District, for example, Green Party candidate Charlie Howe of Carbondale wants to take on incumbent state Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro.

Howe, who filed his nominating petitions Friday, also ran for the post in 2006.

Gill to run again

As expected, Dr. David Gill, a Democrat from Bloomington, filed his petitions Friday to make another run for Congress in the Feb. 2 primary.

Gill has challenged incumbent U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, a Republican of Urbana for the 15th Congressional District post two previous times.