Dick Durbin Pulls Out, Announces He Won't Run For Reelection

Authored by Jackson Richman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

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.

U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in Washington on April 18, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

“The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy. I truly love the job of being a United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch,” he said in a video posted on social media platform X.

“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.”

The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy. 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. pic.twitter.com/eiBTPjToFT

— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) April 23, 2025

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.

“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.

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.

Possible candidates to run for Durbin’s seat include former Chicago Mayor 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.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.