Sen. Dick Durbin Will Not Run For Re-Election

ILLINOIS — U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the senate's second-highest ranking Democrat, announced Wednesday he will not run for re-election after over 40 years in Washington.

"The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy," he said in a video posted on X. "I truly love the job of being a United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch. So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term."

Durbin, who is 80 years old and in his fifth term, would have been up for re-election in 2026. He is the longest-serving senator ever elected to the body from Illinois.

The decision by Durbin not to run will set off a flurry of activity among a scrum of would-be successors, both Democratic and Republican, although the GOP has captured a Senate seat just twice for six-year terms since 1984.

According to NBC Chicago, those who may have their sights on Durbin's seat include north suburban Democrat U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, south suburban Democrat U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, west suburban Democrat U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, Feeding America Senior Program Manager Christopher Swann and, per Politico, Democrat state Sen. Robert Peters of Chicago.

A factor in the impending senate race is whether Gov. JB Pritzker opts to seek re-election.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois' junior senator and a Democrat, said Wednesday in a statement posted on social media that, "It is only because of Dick’s empathy, patience, support and mentorship that I am in the United States Senate today."

"He saw a Soldier in search of her next mission," Duckworth, who is an Iraq War Veteran, said in the statement. "It has been the honor of a lifetime to get to work alongside a leader who embodies what it means to be a true public servant ... Dick Durbin is, and will always be, a giant of the United States Senate."

Durbin was first elected to the U.S. House in 1982 and served seven terms before succeeding his mentor, Paul Simon, in the Senate in 1996. From that post, he helped shape the career of an up-and-comer, Barack Obama, who was only four years into his first term in the Senate when he was elected president.

Durbin is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and sits on the Appropriations and Agriculture committees. His caucus colleagues have chosen him as Democratic whip, the party's No. 2 position, biennially since 2005.

Among Durbin's more significant legislative achievements, he is largely credited with putting in motion the movement to ban indoor smoking. In the early 2000s, he introduced the DREAM Act, which would give immigrants in the U.S. illegally who grew up in the country a pathway toward U.S. citizenship. Durbin was instrumental in reversing a War on Drugs-era law that penalized crack cocaine in a 100-to-1 ratio to powder cocaine, a law that disproportionately hit Black defendants with long prison terms.

In addition to announcing his retirement plans Wednesday, Durbin led 25 Democrats in a letter to President Donald Trump calling on Trump to rescind the claim that the president may transfer incarcerated U.S. citizens to El Salvador and urging Trump to facilitate the return to the U.S. of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador in contravention of a court order.

"Throughout his career, Senator Durbin has been a consistent champion and reliable leader for our working families, civil rights, healthcare, climate, and beyond," Pritzker said in a prepared statement Wednesday.

"From first introducing the DREAM Act, to leading the historic confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, to bringing in major federal infrastructure projects to our state, Senator Durbin has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of everyday Illinoisans."

Durbin was born in 1944 in East St. Louis. In 1966, after graduating from Georgetown University, he interned for Sen. Paul Douglas, whose seat he now holds. Durbin earned a law degree from Georgetown and worked as legal counsel for Simon, who was lieutenant governor in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and then for the Legislature through the 1970s.

The Asssociated Press contributed to this story.