Nicholas Balkema (7 April 1865 – 29 January 1954) was an American politician.
He was born on 7 April 1865, in Gibbsville, Wisconsin, attended Sheboygan Falls High School, then moved to Newkirk, Iowa, in 1884.
On 9 December 1886, he married a Newkirk native, Clara Van Rooyen, with whom he raised four daughters and three sons.
These included service as a bank executive, school board member, and city councillor in Sioux Center.
Between 1909 and 1921, Balkema represented District 49, which included Sioux County, in the Iowa Senate as a Republican.