A shoe drops in one of the myriad investigations swirling around Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The Chicago Tribune reports:

Federal prosecutors alleged Wednesday that Antoin "Tony" Rezko used his influence as one of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's closest advisers and fundraisers to seek millions of dollars in kickbacks and campaign donations from firms seeking state business.

Rezko's indictment comes less than a month before voters must decide whether to re-elect Blagojevich, a Democrat who won four years ago on a platform of ethics reform in the aftermath of the scandal-tarred tenure of George Ryan.

The governor is not accused of any wrongdoing and the indictment does not mention him by name. But the long-rumored charges have been hanging over Blagojevich's campaign for months.

The indictment alleges that Rezko schemed to extort businesses that came before two state boards with the help of co-conspirator Stuart Levine, a campaign contributor re-appointed to the boards by the governor.

Blagojevich, in a Wednesday evening news conference at his campaign headquarters, described Rezko as a friend and supporter. But the governor played down Rezko's extensive influence in the administration, which ranged from recommending appointees to the governor's Cabinet to low-level jobs at the Illinois Tollway. The governor said he had no personal knowledge of any alleged wrongdoing.

So far Blago has been managing a steady lead against Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka, thanks in large part to a huge war chest and a seemingly endless wave of negative television ads. There is a general sense here in Illinois - perhaps equally as strong among many Democrats as most Republicans - that Blagojevich is terribly corrupt, so we'll have to wait and see if the indictment of one of his associates really does anything to change the dynamic of this race.