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Daniel Rhyne

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Daniel Rhyne
Republican Party
Candidate, Illinois State Senate District 57
Elections and appointments
Last election
March 17, 2026
Next election
November 3, 2026
Education
High school
Cahokia Senior High School
Associates
Southwestern Illinois College, 2007
Military
Service / branch
U.S. Marine Corps
Years of service
1992 - 2000
Personal
Birthplace
Belleville, IL
Religion
Protestant
Profession
Mechanic
Contact
Campaign Facebook
Personal Facebook
Personal Instagram
Personal LinkedIn

Daniel Rhyne (Republican Party) is running for election to the Illinois State Senate to represent District 57. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. He advanced from the Republican primary on March 17, 2026.

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 candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for Illinois State Senate District 57

Incumbent Christopher Belt and Daniel Rhyne are running in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 57 on November 3, 2026.

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Christopher Belt (D)
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Daniel Rhyne (R) Candidate Connection

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 57

Incumbent Christopher Belt advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 57 on March 17, 2026.

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Christopher Belt

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 57

Daniel Rhyne advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 57 on March 17, 2026.

Candidate
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Daniel Rhyne Candidate Connection

There were no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = 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

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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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.

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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

2026 Elections

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External links

Candidate

Illinois State Senate District 57
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 23, 2025


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