Daniel Rhyne
Elections and appointments
Personal
Contact
Daniel Rhyne (Republican Party) is running for election to the Illinois State Senate to represent District 57. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on March 17, 2026.[source]
Rhyne completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Daniel Rhyne was born in Belleville, Illinois. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1992 to 2000. He earned an associate degree from Southwestern Illinois College in 2007. His career experience includes working as a mechanic and union treasurer.[1]
Rhyne has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- United Steelworkers Local 1899
- Veterans of Steel
- American Legion
- Disabled American Veterans
- Republican Party
Elections
2026
See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 17, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Republican primary election
Endorsements
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2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Daniel Rhyne completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rhyne's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Marine Veteran/Commonsense Republican
- Open Illinois for business, by lowering taxes and easing job killing regulations.
- Make Illinois safer by ending cashless bail, and backing our police by keeping repeat offenders locked up.
- Put Illinois citizens first by ending sanctuary policies and lessen the tax burden it puts on us. Lower taxes and reward citizens that have stayed and endured some of the worst taxes in the nation.
I’m personally passionate about the tax burden placed on our citizens, and the safety of our communities.
The person I looked up to was my dad. My dad was an honorable man, and he stood for what he believed in. I’m 53 years old and my father has passed and I still try to think of how he would handle situations.
I believe one of the most important characteristics of an elected official is integrity. I believe the people should always be put first. Too many times, you see politicians get in office and all of a sudden their family members and friends all end up with jobs that are paid by taxpayers. I would never put my family and friends in positions that could otherwise be filled with citizens of the district. Politics has an awful lot to do with appearances, and the appearance of appointing your wife or mother-in-law to a position is horrible. I would instead elevate members of the community and try to get as many community leaders involved as possible.
The core responsibility for someone elected to this office is to always do what’s best for the community and the taxpayers. Never put politics over people.
I would like to help my district succeed. I believe there’s still hope with the right people in the right places.
The first historical event I remember is the Berlin Wall coming down when I was 16.
I worked at M&M tire when I was 15 and I worked there for two summers.
“The Catcher in the Rye” I like this book because it tells about the difficult nature of growing up, and the end of innocence.
A Jedi, so I could use mind tricks on Pritzker the Hut.
I struggle with the fact that my state is failing. My brother moved to Florida, and my daughters have moved to Georgia and Tennessee. Its hard to not give up and move to a red state, but I’m not ready to give up on Illinois just yet.
I believe the ideal relationship between the governor and the state senators is to work together and listen to the needs of each district and work together to address the biggest challenges facing each district.
I believe our state’s greatest challenges are all the companies and citizens fleeing due to policies that hurt their business and or families. Our biggest challenge over the next decade will be the need for more tax money with less people and businesses to pay them. This will put an even bigger tax burden on the remaining citizens.
I do not believe state legislators need to have previous experience in government because sometimes fresh new ideas can be a tremendous asset for turning things around and making situations better for the people and the state.
I think it is extremely beneficial to build relationships with other legislators and to work with legislators from both sides of the aisle. We need to get over the current situation our state and country for that matter is in. We have to work together and restore bipartisan relationships and end this my way or no way era we are living in. We have to work for the best of the state and the citizens of our communities. My favorite saying has always been,”people over politics“.
If I could model myself after another politician, I would have to pick Ron DeSantis. I feel like he always puts his state and his people first.
I would be interested in running for different political office if I succeeded in my current office and there was a possibility I could do more for my state. I would also listen to my peers and the people to see if it’s something they would endorse or not.
I work at US Steel in Granite City and due to job killing regulations, high taxes, and extremely high utility rates that don’t even compare to other states, I’ve seen business after business leave our state. I have friends that have been forced to move and are struggling to get by. Democrats have shut down most of our coal mines, power plants, and a large section of my steel mill. When businesses leave, crime and desperation move in. We have to do better.
I believe the legislature should definitely oversee the use of emergency powers and should only grant the use in extreme circumstances.
I would love to pass a jobs bill that would lessen regulations and lower corporate taxes to draw companies to our state. I would open Illinois and make it competitive with other states.
I am against changing the ballot initiative process. I think it empowers citizens and promotes democracy.
I talked to a lady that is raising her granddaughter because her son overdosed on heroine. Her story about how crime and drugs destroyed her family was extremely touching and very tragic.
I graduated Honor-Man in Marine Corps boot camp. Honor-Man is an award given to the Marine that graduates number one in their platoon.
I would like to see mail in voting only be allowed in cases of serving abroad. I believe all other voting should be done in person and you must have identification.
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.
Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
External links
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 23, 2025
Leadership
Senate President:Don Harmon
Majority Leader:Kimberly Lightford
Minority Leader:John Curran
Senators
Democratic Party (40)
Republican Party (19)
