In 2002, Rod Blagojevich ended the political career of Jim Ryan, Illinois’s attorney general, by defeating him in the general election for governor. Now, with Blagojevich disgraced and Republicans seeing opportunities in 2010 that they haven’t glimpsed in several election cycles, Ryan seems to be angling towards a run for the governorship. But some Illinois political observers think his prospects are dim because of his close ties to a longtime friend and donor, Stuart Levine, who turned out to be a criminal. Tony Rezko even makes a cameo appearance in the story:

Despite their close friendship, Ryan said last year he was never aware of Levine’s “secret life” that only came to light in the past year when Levine testified that he and Tony Rezko ripped off the pension plan for Illinois teachers.
Levine, at the same time he was heavily involved in the campaign of socially conservative candidate Ryan, was leading a double-life participating in all-night drug parties with men at “The Purple Hotel” in Lincolnwood, he testified at the trial of Tony Rezko.
Ryan’s rivals are expected to ask how Ryan — as the states top law enforcement official from 1994 to 2002 — could fail to notice that one of his best friends and his top donor was a criminal.
“In no part of my adult life was I not involved in criminal activity,” Levine testified.

There’s lots more. Scandal by association may not be fair, but it’s a part of politics. I’d be more disturbed by Ryan’s links to a think tank advocating tax increases, but that’s just me.