Secretary of State Jesse White is possibly the most popular politician in Illinois. But that doesn’t make him a good choice for re-election. Dan Rutherford, a Republican state senator from Chenoa, gets our endorsement for secretary of state.

White is without a doubt a nice man. And his laudable efforts to better the lives of inner city kids with his Jesse White Tumblers has probably made him more famous than his long political career. But we have the distinct impression that White is not all that engaged with his current job.

That is actually a generous explanation of some of the ethical and operational lapses during the past eight years of White’s tenure. White does deserve credit for increasing the power of the inspector general’s position in his office, and certainly there has been no allegation of endemic corruption as was the case during the “license for bribe” days when George Ryan was in charge.

However, as Rutherford points out, “There’s so much else going on.”

Nepotism may top that list. White’s daughter was not hired by him - she first got her job under then-Secretary of State George Ryan. But under her father her salary has nearly tripled to $112,000 a year. White sees no problem with that. It doesn’t stop there. A nephew, three nieces and a step-grandson all have landed jobs under White.

And some of White’s top aides have also placed relatives on the secretary of state payroll. White also allowed Rick Davis, who holds a no-bid $73,000-per-year contract with his office, to write his biography. Davis maintains the book work was all done off the state clock. We hope so.

White has also taken cash as Christmas gifts from his employees, ala George Ryan, and until just weeks ago, accepted campaign donations from his employees. We are not saying any of this rises to the level of illegality, but we suspect if it was anyone other than White, it would have developed into quite a public controversy. Rutherford says that White “gets a pass,” and we have to agree.

White should not get a pass to a third term in office, and not only because of his ethical lapses. We believe the Illinois secretary of state’s office has lagged when it comes to customer service - a concept that should be the office’s top priority.

Along with his career in the Senate, Rutherford serves as an executive with ServiceMaster Corp. His customer-service expertise will suit him well as secretary of state. Rutherford has pledged to implement several customer-friendly improvements - expanding office hours and allowing people to make appointments at driver services centers, allowing the use of debit and credit cards, increasing online services and issuing e-mail reminders when your plate stickers are due. The lack of reminders under White’s tenure caused about 200,000 people to be penalized $20 each.

“I knew when I got in this race, I was taking on the Goliath,” said Rutherford. “But I believe I can be a better secretary of state.” We believe that, too.