Dick Durbin, Number 2 Senate Democrat, Not Running for Reelection

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the longest-serving U.S. senator in Illinois history, announced on April 23 that he will not run for reelection next year, capping a career of more than four decades in Congress.

“The challenges facing our country are historic and unprecedented. The threats to our democracy and our way of life are very real and I can assure you, I’ll do everything in my power to fight for Illinois and the future of our country every day of my remaining time in the Senate.”

No formal decision has been made regarding Durbin’s successor as Democratic Party whip.

Durbin was first elected to Congress in 1982, succeeding Rep. Paul Findley (R-Ill.). He has served in the Senate since Jan. 3, 1997. During his tenure as Senate Democratic whip, Durbin helped pass the Affordable Care Act, economic stimulus packages, COVID-19 relief, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

He is credited with initiating the movement to ban indoor smoking. After watching his 53-year-old father die of lung cancer when he was 14, Durbin won approval in 1987 for legislation prohibiting smoking on short commercial flights, which he expanded to nearly all domestic flights two years later.

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“People started asking, ‘If secondhand smoke wasn’t safe on airplanes, why is it safe in public buildings, schools, hospitals, or restaurants?’ The answer is simple: It’s not,” Durbin said on the 25th anniversary of the law.

Durbin also served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he is currently the ranking member. During his tenure as chairman, he oversaw the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court and helped President Joe Biden break the record for most judicial appointments by a president.

Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, in 1944 to immigrant parents. He graduated from the undergraduate program and law school at Georgetown University in Washington in 1966 and 1969, respectively, and interned for former Sen. Paul Douglas (D-Ill.). He adopted his nickname after Douglas mistakenly called Durbin, whose first name is Richard, “Dick.”

He worked in multiple roles in Illinois politics, including a stint as counsel to former Lt. Gov. Paul Simon. He unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor in 1978.

Possible names of those who could run for Durbin’s seat include former Chicago Mayor and Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, and Reps. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

Durbin said that Illinois is fortunate to have “a strong Democratic bench ready to serve.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) will be the senior senator from Illinois upon Durbin’s retirement.

“Dick Durbin is, and will always be, a giant of the United States Senate. He has dedicated his life to making our state—as well as our nation—stronger, and we are all better for it.”