CARBONDALE - Mayor Brad Cole is considering a run for statewide office as part of the Republican ticket in 2010 and is beginning a fundraising effort.

Cole announced his decision in a letter mailed Friday to possible supporters, although he did not name in the letter or say in an interview which office he will seek.

Word of Cole's next campaign had yet to spread far by Saturday afternoon, but as Cole noted, he'd yet to receive the letter that he had mailed to his own home.

Cole cites a broken and unchanging system in Springfield as a major motivation for seeking statewide office.

Even in the wake of the Blagojevich scandal, the mayor said, business as usual continues.

"The important decisions that affect millions of people - like balancing our budgets, seeking real reform in health care and government programs, facing challenges in our education systems and working with cities and villages to serve the critical, basic needs of the people - are decided by the same handful of power brokers that got us into the terrible conditions we suffer with today," Cole wrote in his letter.

The mayor cites the accomplishments of Carbondale as among his qualifications.

"With the help of a lot of people, we have made great strides in our community," he wrote. Among other things, he noted elimination of the city's portion of property taxes, local medical malpractice reform, infrastructure work, incentives for new businesses and housing, removing abandoned properties and cleaning up eyesores, improved customer services, programs to foster new jobs, keeping the budget balanced and making public safety a priority.

Cole says change in Springfield "must include bold leaders with the courage to turn the system upside down." That will include working with all parties, he said.

The mayor acknowledged he has a lot of work to do: Southern Illinois doesn't have the population or voter density that the northern part of the state does, and he said he has practically nothing in his campaign fund.

"I don't have any funds to speak of, and that's OK," the mayor said. "I wasn't focused on raising funds, I was focused on Carbondale."

The letter to possible supporters and request for campaign contributions is a start, Cole said.

Cole also said his network of potential supporters might be the larger than a first glance would reveal. Born and raised in Macon, just a few miles south of Decatur, he has ties to central Illinois.

Cole has lived in Carbondale for the last 20 years, serving a term on the City Council before being elected twice to the mayor's office. A two-degree alumnus of Southern Illinois University, he earned a bachelors degree with a double major in political science and biology and a master's degree in legal studies.

After college, he was hired to run then-Gov. George Ryan's Marion office, the first Southern Illinois of an Illinois governor, he said. He was later deputy chief of staff.

Cole said he was excited about a run for statewide office, yet noted a campaign comes with some anxiety.

"On one hand it could be a great opportunity but there is also, I think, a tremendous challenge," he said.

But, Cole added, he thinks his message will reverberate.

"We have had the same people running state government for 30 years. We need some new folks. People are tired of it. People want somebody who can get things done."

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, said he had heard Cole was considering a run at statewide office, but he hadn't yet received a letter. Bost said there are a lot of possibilities about what office Cole could be eyeing, but did not venture a guess at which one.

Mike Lawrence, a longtime statehouse journalist, former senior adviser to Gov. Jim Edgar and political commentator (including for The Southern Illinoisan), said Cole's candidacy likely will get attention from Republicans throughout the state.

"The Republicans are looking for new faces on a statewide basis," Lawrence said. Cole, he said, has a good record in Carbondale and has shown he can win elections.

Cole has work to do on fundraising and gaining exposure in the northern part of the state, Lawrence noted, but he added Cole likely is well-networked with other mayors, and that network can help get Cole and his message in front of voters.

- The Southern's Codell Rodriguez and Adam Testa contributed to this report.

mark.fitton@thesouthern.com / 618-351-5807