Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka announced she's "ready" to enter the GOP primary race for Governor. Topinka also said Jim Edgar, the popular former Governor of Illinois (1991-1999) who recently mulled and then declined a bid to run against Rod Blagojevich, will endorse her candidacy in the near future.

Topinka is the fifth candidate to enter the field so far. She's a pro-choice moderate with ties to George Ryan and currently the only Republican holding statewide office. Despite her suggestion that Republicans "keep our powder dry during the primary," Topinka can expect a rough and tumble race among a group of candidates representing the fractured constituencies of an Illinois Republican party in a continuing state of disarray.

UPDATE: We'll be talking more about Blagojevich's problems (and there some biggies) in a future post. In the meantime, check out this article from last week's Chicago Tribune where Terry Barnich argues Edgar did Republicans a favor by bowing out, forcing the GOP to get their act together to beat Blagojevich on the strength of leadership, ideas and pro-growth principles instead of trading on Edgar's reputation and popularity.