If every election has a sleeper candidate, DeKalb County’s would be NIU student Robert Harris.

Harris, 21, is running on the Republican ticket for a county board seat in District 5.

He said he believes that the general feeling on the board is that students at NIU are apathetic to the needs of the county.

Harris said he urges students to vote in the upcoming elections in the county to show support for the area they go to school in.

“The upcoming election is a good opportunity to show the county that the student population cares about the affairs of the county,” he said.

Harris said he believes NIU must begin to handle its own fiscal problems by prioritizing needs and clearing away urgent problems.

“Unless you clear off the main problems, you won’t achieve anything,” he said.

Harris said NIU and the board must begin to work closer with each other. They need to work to bring more business into the area, he said.

Harris is a senior management major at NIU. He plans to graduate in May 1993. He said his business background would be an asset on the board.

“Not all politicians have a strong business background. I’d like to take part on the county’s finance board if elected,” he said.