Elected officials who suddenly announce they are quitting often cite wanting more time with their families.
Add a novel excuse to those resignation letters: Frustration with hacking.
That’s what Ron Sandack, an Illinois House Republican, said this week.
In a statement, Sandack pointed to hacking for the reason behind his resignation, effective immediately and in advance of his November re-election bid, Reuters reported.
“After some cyber security issues arose, I began to re-evaluate my continued public service,” he said.
Being in the public eye — whether as an actress or a politician — has certainly become more treacherous given hacking and online harassment campaigns.
Email hacking has dogged the Democratic National Convention this week and led to the resignation of Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. And last week, the comedian and actress Leslie Jones returned to Twitter after the social media firm booted Milo Yiannopoulos, the conservative writer, as Queenie Wong wrote.
Sandack’s troubles began earlier this month.
The lawmaker from a Chicago suburb known for being outspoken discovered fake Facebook and Twitter accounts in his name. He shut down his accounts and filed a police report. No compromising information had been accessed.
Sandack was also subjected to a series of automated calls accusing him of harassing a Democratic staff member.
An active social media user, Sandack said that local politics had become “too ugly,” the Chicago Tribune reported.
The beneficiary of Sandack’s resignation — his Democratic opponent — didn’t cheer. At least not openly.
“I’m saddened to hear about the idea of computer hacking driving somebody out,” Greg Hose told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Above: The Facebook logo. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
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