A retired Illinois State Police master sergeant wants to represent portions of western Illinois in the state Senate.
Brad Beekman is seeking the Republican nomination in the 36th District. The seat is currently held by State Sen. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island. Halpin is an attorney who is running for reelection.
Beekman said Illinois needs to bring its spending under control. He said the state spends money on some things that don’t benefit its citizens, such as providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants.
“We spend money to keep them here, house them here, educate them recently, and I just think that we have to be responsible in making them law-abiding citizens of Illinois before we do those services for them,” he said.
Beekman spent 28 years in law enforcement, and served on the governor’s security detail. He retired from state police two years ago.
He said his experience in law enforcement leadership roles would serve him well in the legislature.
Beekman announced his candidacy on Wednesday, Aug. 20 in front of a crowd of supporters at Hiel Trucking in Prairie City.
“I retired my badge a few years ago, and I’m proud of my service. But sadly, I’m not proud of where we are as a state, and that’s why it is so clear to me that my service is not yet done,” he told the crowd.
“We need to bring law enforcement back into the conversation and stand up to the attacks on law and order.”
Among other things, Beekman said lawmakers need to review the SAFE-T Act. He said it contains some good measures, such as documenting training for police officers, but he said overall “the SAFE-T Act has so many harmful things in it.”
Beekman currently serves on the Bushnell-Prairie City school board.
Another Republican seeking the party’s nomination for the 36th District Illinois Senate seat is Patrick Harlan of Galesburg.
Harlan is a truck driver. He calls himself a common-sense conservative, with the campaign slogan of “Trucking Over the Elites.”
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department, please consider making a financial contribution.
