Brad Burzynski was chosen Tuesday to be the 76th district’s next State Representative.

With 7 percent of the precincts counted Burzynski was ahead of Democratic opponent Robert Tisch 702 votes to 381 votes.

Burzynski said he “hoped tonight is the start of something good,” at his campaign headquarters in Sycamore.

Burzynski also spoke about the rigors of a 12 month campaign, including a difficult primary battle where he was the underdog.

Tisch said he talked to Burzynski on the phone to congratulate him about midnight.

“Brad and I agreed we came close to running a campaign the way it should be run,” Tisch said.

Tisch said he was pleased to have run a campaign “not built on dividing people from each other.”

Burzynski and Tisch have both run an issues-oriented campaign that refrained from the negative advertising that characterized many of this year’s races.

The candidates’ strongest area of disagreement was in the area of abortion. Burzynski took a pro-life stand while Tisch said he is pro-choice.

Both candidates spoke about the need to cut waste in the state government. Tisch wanted to consolidate certain state agencies for easier access. Burzynski proposed cutting overlapping law enforcement agencies.

Burzynski is the Governmental Affairs director of the DeKalb County Farm Bureau. He previously has managed Farm Bureaus in Clark and Clinton counties.