‘Unusual’ race coming to close in House District 81

State Sen. Ron Sandack is looking forward to giving a sigh of relief Tuesday night at the end of what he described as “one unusual campaign.”

Sandack and Debbie Boyle, a Downers Grove resident and registered nurse, are vying for the Republican nomination in the newly created 81st House District, but rarely were the two ever in the same place and never did they debate.

And earlier this month, Sandack’s legislative office in the 1100 block of Warren Avenue in Downers Grove was destroyed by a fire.

“The whole mystery opponent thing was stressful enough to deal with, but the fire was a disaster,” Sandack said Friday. “We’ll know in a couple weeks where our offices will relocate. Thankfully we were able to save all of our files before the computers eventually went down.”

His sigh of relief, however, may be short-lived. Currently no Democrats are slated to run against the winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary. But that could change.

“There’s a small window during which they could appoint someone to oppose whichever of us wins. That would just be another mystery opponent for me if I win Tuesday.

Boyle has chosen to avoid most media exposure and attend only a limited number of speaking engagements. She has opted to focus on sending mailers.

Boyle did not respond to several Daily Herald interview requests over the past several weeks, including for this story, and did not attend a Feb. 17 endorsement interview with Sandack and members of the newspaper’s editorial board.

The newly drawn 81st House District includes parts of Lisle, Naperville, Bolingbrook, Downers Grove, Woodridge and Darien.