A hiring scandal continues to dog the re-election campaign of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Governor Blagojevich is pitching a new preschool expansion program, but he can’t keep the political focus on kids and learning.

Instead, he’s fending off allegations his staff tracked state job candidates.

Critics charge the hiring practices amounted to political patronage, which state law prohibits.

But Blagojevich says he’s appointed someone to look into the allegations.

“People make mistakes, some people don’t do things right, some people purposely do things wrong,” he said.

“We understand human nature, that’s why we have our inspector general. And so, when our inspector general finds wrong-doing, that’s an example of the system working. “

Governor Blagojevich touts new hiring rules that made employment policies blind in 2003.

But the Associated Press reports his chief of staff continued name-tracking in 2004.

The federal government is investigating the governor’s hiring policies.