If Republican candidate hopeful Judy Barr Topinka plans to set her eyes on Illinois’ top seat as governor, hypocrisy isn’t a good quality to have.

Topinka and her staff have repeatedly blasted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for taking campaign contributions from state contractors but quickly turn a blind eye to doing so themselves.

Since she took office as state treasurer, Topinka has accepted nearly $600,000 from interests that her office deals with. Some of the money came from banks where Topinka deposited hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds; others have come from contractors who currently are or plan to receive money for work in the treasurer’s office, according to published reports.

Topinka’s campaign, however, disregards claims of hypocrisy against the treasure by pointing out that Blagojevich has taken far more in contributions.

According to a Chicago Sun-Times investigation, 20 companies have been paid or are under contract for more than $365 million in state work under Blagojevich. These same companies have donated $925,000 to the governor’s campaign.

Topinka has even called for an investigation into Blagojevich’s campaign for taking donations from companies that have received no-bid contracts for the state.

While Topinka and Blagojevich both walk a fine ethical line for accepting contributions from state contractors, doing so might be inevitable.

But, before Topinka continues to chastise the Blagojevich campaign for its actions, she should take a lesson from what she’s trying to teach her possible opponent.