State Rep. Ron Sandack ( Downers Grove ), one of the Republican legislators who voted for marriage equality, is resigning from the Illinois House, citing both "cyber security issues" and a desire to spend more time with his family as reasons, the Daily Herald reported July 25.
Some of Sandack's social media accounts had disappeared in recent days. He engaged heavily on Twitter and Facebook, and on July 20 told the Capitol Fax blog that someone had tried hacking his accounts.
"It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve the people of the 81st district for the past four years in Springfield," said Sandack in a statement. "But after some cyber security issues arose, I began to re-evaluate my continued public service.
"I have always recognized there is no greater privilege than being a father and husband. My duties in Springfield has meant missing a lot of events in the lives of my children. I am no longer willing to miss important family events."
Sandack was facing off against Democratic candidate Greg Hose to retain his seat; it's now up to Republican leaders to determine his replacement.
Sandack narrowly won his second House election in 2014 with just over 150 votes. His challenger in that race, Downers Grove social studies teacher Keith Matune, played on Sandack's 2013 vote in favor of marriage equality. Matune's supporters distributed campaign flyers that showed Sandack speaking at a marriage equality rally and implied that he was thus a radical. But Sandack said that he supported marriage equality because it was a positive reflection of "family values."
Daily Herald's article is at bit.ly/29ZE81d . Capitol Fax broke the news at bit.ly/2a685m0 .