The bitter cold outside couldn’t measure up to the bitterness the two candidates expressed toward each other during their Monday night debate.

Attorney General Jim Ryan and Representative Rod Blagojevich faced off at the Coronado Theater in Rockford in the first governor’s debate of 2002. The two candidates wasted no time attacking the other’s stance on topics ranging from the budget to the death penalty to scandals in Springfield.

Blagojevich presented himself as an outsider who is ready to fix problems that have plagued state government.

“It is time for a change,” Blagojevich said. “Springfield has had its chance.”

Ryan defended his record in Springfield as attorney general, and expressed his concern about what Blagojevich would do if he became governor.

“This is the most important election in 25 years,” Ryan said.

The biggest issue Monday night was the state’s budget problems, and how the candidates will balance the budget when elected.

“[The budget] is a corrupt process; it is a closed process,” Blagojevich said.

The current state government cut the wrong things at budget time, Blagojevich said. He plans to allow “more sunshine on the budget process,” he said.

Ryan countered by saying that the focus should be placed on better spending cuts and money management to correct budget problems. He pointed to the Illinois Board of Higher Education as a place he’ll look to curb wasteful spending.

Tempers ran high when the candidates were asked about their stance on the death penalty. Currently, Illinois allows the death penalty, but a moratorium prevents any further executions.

“Why hasn’t Mr. Ryan answered for the Rolando Cruz case?” Blagojevich asked.

Cruz is a former death row inmate who was later found innocent. Ryan was DuPage County’s State Attorney over the original trial.

Ryan said he handled the case appropriately, and that the evidence at the time showed that Cruz was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He added that when new evidence appeared, he no was longer in office, and that Blagojevich will not mention that in his attacks.

“He is a parrot saying the same lines even though he knows they’re not true,” Ryan said.

Both candidates continued their attacks onto scandals in Springfield, specifically the “license for bribes” scandal.

“I’m from outside that system,” Blagojevich said, and challenged Ryan to explain why the Attorney General’s office didn’t start an investigation into the scandal.

Ryan replied that it was redundant for the state to have an investigation while the federal government had one. He then accused Blagojevich of only caring about Republican scandals.

“When there is a Republican scandal, he rattles his saber, but when Democrats have a scandal, he is as quiet as a mouse,” Ryan said.