Illinois State Senator, 36th Legislative District
State Senate District 36; Illinois
My vote power
High
Election date
November 3, 2026 · General election
How do we calculate my vote power?
What goes into the rating: Representation: how much weight one vote carries here compared with a statewide vote — the smaller the district, the more each vote counts. Decisiveness: how likely this race is to be close, based on past results or current analyst ratings, plus the number of candidates.
Representation: High · 68 out of 100
This district is a small slice of its state, so each vote here carries much more weight than a vote in a statewide race. About 214,332 people live here.
Show the representation math
score = 50 + 50 × ln(state population ÷ this district's) ÷ ln(50,000) = 50 + 50 × ln(12,694,798 ÷ 214,332) ÷ ln(50,000) = 68.86, measured against a statewide vote in IL (grades: 66+ high, 33+ normal, otherwise low; a statewide race is the 50 baseline)
Decisiveness: Unknown
No analyst ratings or past results for this contest yet.
High representation → My vote power: High.
Some data is missing, so this rating is based on partial information and capped at "High".
About this office
- Voting on how much you pay in state taxes
- Voting on how much money your local public schools get
- Voting on which roads and highways get built or repaired
Affects: AI Regulation, Healthcare Affordability, Environment and Public Health,
Candidates
Republican · declared
Brad Beekman serves on the Bushnell-Prairie City school board and retired from the Illinois State Police in 2023 after a 28-year law-enforcement career. He works in the accounting and trust department at a state bank and operates a farm.
Records: Government Spending Reduction 1 for, 1 against, Environment and Public Health 1 against, Government Efficiency 1 for,
Democratic · Incumbent · declared
Michael W. Halpin is an attorney serving in the Illinois Senate, where he chairs the education appropriations committee, after service in the Illinois House. He has worked on education, labor, veterans, and human-trafficking prevention.
Records: Civil Rights 15 for, Corporate Accountability 13 for, Environment and Public Health 10 for,
Sources: elections.il.gov2 · multistate.us