The lone Democrat running for state representative of the 76th district, who announced his candidacy Thursday morning, is also an NIU student.

Bob Tisch is an NIU law student and the student representative on the Board of Regents.

“It’ll be an uphill battle, always is for a Democrat,” said Terry Desmond, DeKalb County Clerk. Tisch does have energy though, he said.

Tisch said he feels he has an “excellent” chance at winning the election because there is no incumbent and Illinois voters traditionally vote for the legislator who “works very hard.”

“I think his chances are really excellent,” said NIU Young Democrats President Tom Elkins.

This candidacy is an attempt to keep a democracy and Tisch hopes “to provide leadership and keep the faith of the public trust,” he said.

Voters pay attention to the image of candidates, he said.

Tisch said his image includes “someone who’s intelligent, enjoys talking, thinks and works the issues.”

However, there are some obstacles Tisch needs to overcome.

“He’s unknown in a large part of the county and he doesn’t know a lot of the politicians in the south of the county,” Elkins said.

Tisch said he plans to “work like hell” to become well known in the county.

Desmond said in the next eight months, Tisch must understand the needs of the area. Specifically, education in primary and secondary schools is a “major issue” in Illinois, he said.

“Listening is important” because the area outside of DeKalb is not a “media distributor,” Tisch said.

Elkins said Tisch will be walking door to door to every household in the county if needed.

Tisch said one of his goals is to promote public involvement with issues such as education, taxes and the environment.

Citizen participation in the election is important on “his behalf and their own behalf,” Tisch said. Constituents are a “conduit” for information, he said.