Grundy County Board Chair Running for Senate
Grundy County Board Chairman Chris Balkema is entering the open race for the 53rd Senate district.
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Grundy County Board Chairman Chris Balkema of Channahon tells The Illinoize he will run for the open 53rd Senate seat in 2024.
Balkema, 52, has served on the Grundy County Board from 2010 to 2014 and again since 2016. He ran for congress in 2014, finishing second in the 11th District primary and unsuccessfully sought the 106th House District appointment earlier this year that went to eventual Rep. Jason Bunting (R-Emington).
He’s the second Republican to jump in to the race to replace outgoing Sen. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City), who announced last month he won’t seek re-election. Iroquois County Board member Paul Ducat is the other other announced candidate. Both of the state representatives in the district, Rep. Dennis Tipsword (R-Metamora) and Bunting have said they won’t seek the seat.
Balkema has spent 30 years with Caterpillar with time at facilities in Joliet, Pontiac, and Peoria.
He says he wants to be the kind of Republican who can get things done, but has a conservative voting record that will still help him win a primary.
“I’m solid on the values that have made this country great and I’ll never compromise on those,” Balkema said. “We’ve gotten a lot done along the way and we’ll continue to stand firm.”
Balkema lives just 1/3 of a mile from the Grundy/Will county border in a far more suburban-looking part of the district, leaving him more than 90 miles from much of the district, including vastly rural swatches of Ford, Iroquois, and Livingston counties. Balkema says he and his family spent time living in both Livingston and Peoria counties (the district runs to right across the Illinois River) during his career and considers those parts of the district a “homecoming.”
The district is heavily Republican and Democrats aren’t expected to mount a serious challenge for the seat next year.