Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced on Wednesday that he would not seek reelection for Senate in 2026.
“I have given more than half of my life to House and Senate Congressional service, and I’ve always tried to stand up to power on behalf of the people of Illinois and our country,” Durbin said on X. “I am proud of what I have achieved and hope my record will speak for itself.”
Furthermore, in his retirement video, he said, “It is time to pass the torch. Although I won’t seek reelection, I will continue to fight every single day for the Illinoisans who gave a kid from East St. Louis a chance to serve.”
He thanked his family for standing by him throughout his public career. Also, the senator called his Senate staff the best “anyone could ask for.”
Durbin, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, has served as the Senate Democratic whip for 20 years. CNN reports that the senators being considered for the next whip position include Brian Schatz (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Patty Murray (D-WA).
The senator has represented Illinois in Congress for 42 years. Durbin served in the House from 1983 to 1997, and he has been Illinois’ senator since 1997.
After announcing his retirement, former President Barack Obama said he would not have reached either the Senate or the White House without Durbin’s support.
“Dick Durbin has always fought the good fight on behalf of working families, and his integrity shines through in everything he does,” Obama said on X.
Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said she will miss working with Durbin in the Senate.
“I know he will find a new way to keep serving his country in the years ahead—just as he encouraged a wounded Soldier in a Walter Reed hospital room to do, all those years ago,” she said on X.
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich had a different reaction to Durbin’s retirement.
“After 28 years, Il.Sen. Dick Durbin is retiring. I knew him well when I was in Congress & Governor. He is a career politician, hyper partisan Dem. & political insider whose wife used to lobby me. I’m surprised he is leaving. Making America Great Again one retirement at a time,” he explained on X.
Durbin joins Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who will not seek reelection.
The Cook Political Playbook rates this Senate seat as one Democrats are projected to win.
– – –
Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
Photo “Dick Durbin” by Dick Durbin.
