Chris Balkema
Chris Balkema (Republican Party) is a member of the Illinois State Senate, representing District 53. He assumed office on January 8, 2025. His current term ends on January 13, 2027.
Balkema (Republican Party) ran in a special election to the Illinois State Senate to represent District 53. He won in the special general election on November 5, 2024.
Balkema completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Chris Balkema earned a bachelor's degree from Taylor University in 1993 and a graduate degree from Bradley University. His career experience includes working in business management and serving as the Grundy County board chairman[1][2]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Illinois state legislative special elections, 2024
General election
Special general election for Illinois State Senate District 53
Chris Balkema won election in the special general election for Illinois State Senate District 53 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Chris Balkema (R)  | 100.0 | 90,825 |
| Total votes: 90,825 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Special Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 53
Chris Balkema defeated Jesse Faber, Mike Kirkton, and Susan Wynn Bence in the special Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 53 on March 19, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chris Balkema | 49.4 | 11,788 |
| Jesse Faber | 31.8 | 7,588 | ||
| Mike Kirkton | 10.9 | 2,587 | ||
| Susan Wynn Bence | 7.9 | 1,879 | ||
| Total votes: 23,842 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Balkema in this election.
Pledges
Balkema signed the following pledges.
2014
Balkema ran in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 11th District.[3] Balkema was defeated by Darlene Senger in the Republican primary on March 18, 2014.[4]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Darlene Senger |
36.9% | 13,290 | ||
| Chris Balkema | 33.4% | 12,024 | ||
| Bert Miller | 26.3% | 9,460 | ||
| Ian Bayne | 3.5% | 1,253 | ||
| Total Votes | 36,027 | |||
| Source: Illinois State Board of Elections |
||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chris Balkema completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Balkema's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I will use my 30 years of Caterpillar experience, coupled with concrete results, as Grundy County Board Chairman, and turn this state around. We did it in Grundy County and I’ll do it in Springfield.
The difference between myself and the other 3 candidates is the reality that I have demonstrated results. I answered the call from the Grundy County residents and drove solutions as the board chairman.
As a result, our board flipped from a 12 to 6 Democratic majority to a 17 to 1 Republican majority.
We produced results by exposing the truth and the voters responded. This was done by standing firm, respecting every member and building an executable plan – all while not giving an inch on principle.
- Push Cost of Living Improvements – I led 4 straight years of county property tax reductions despite a torrent of unfunded Springfield mandates.
- Oppose ALL Illegal Immigration – I only support the legal path for immigrants. We made Grundy County a Non-Sanctuary county and I will push this in Springfield.
- Fervently Support our 2nd Amendment Right to Bear Arms – I put a gun rights question on the Grundy County ballot and it passed overwhelmingly!
2) Closing the border to stop illegal immigration
3) Supporting our 2nd Amendment Rights
ISRA
A+ Rating
Citizens for Life
Illinois Realtors
Illinois Chamber of Commerce
CICI
Illinois Manufacturing Association
ABATE
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Balkema submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on February 19, 2024.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Illinois scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Balkema and his wife Jill have two sons. They live in Channahon, Illinois.[2]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Illinois State Senate District 53 |
Officeholder Illinois State Senate District 53 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on January 11, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 [Information submitted by candidate to BP staff on December 20, 2013]
- ↑ Daily Herald, "Senger meets with GOP officials about challenge to Foster" accessed April 17, 2013
- ↑ Associated Press, "Primary Election 2014," accessed March 18, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Bennett (R) |
Illinois State Senate District 53 2025-Present |
Succeeded by - |
