CHICAGO — Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat and his party’s top leader on the Judiciary Committee, announced Wednesday that he won’t seek a sixth term in 2026.
“I know in my heart it’s time to pass the torch,” the veteran senator said in a social media post Wednesday.
Durbin, who is 80, confirmed what many Democrats have expected for months — that the veteran senator would step aside after three decades in office.
His departure comes at a perilous moment for the judicial system as the Trump administration repeatedly tests the limits of executive power and challenges the authority of the courts.
Illinois Democrats have already been lining up in anticipation of his announcement, hoping for a chance at the Senate seat. Reps. Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Lauren Underwood, as well as Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and state Sen. Robert Peters, have all signaled an interest in the seat.
Durbin’s exit also opens up a top slot in the Senate Democratic leadership for the first time in a decade. Many in the party have eyed Durbin’s retirement as a prime opportunity to elevate a younger voice into the senior ranks.
Durbin made headlines last month for being one of 10 Democrats who voted with Republicans to advance a GOP-crafted stopgap spending bill. Durbin drew criticism from progressive groups, who used the words “profoundly disappointed” and “cowardice” in calling out his vote.
He told reporters he believed the vote was the “responsible thing to do” to avoid a government shutdown.
The criticism was a blip in Durbin’s career advocating on high-profile national issues and for the state of Illinois.
In 2001, Durbin introduced the DREAM Act, which gives undocumented immigrants who grew up in the U.S. a chance to become citizens. A decade later, he successfully urged then-President Barack Obama, another Illinois native, to stop the deportation of Dreamers. That move led to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that exists today.
Durbin has also championed efforts to reform sentencing laws, curb credit card fees and ban smoking on commercial airline flights.
In 2005, Durbin met Tammy Duckworth, then an Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter pilot who 12 weeks earlier had lost both her legs after being shot down in Iraq. He would become a mentor and advocate for Duckworth as she pursued a political career as assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs and then as a member of the House and Senate.
And in 2022, Durbin led the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the high court.
“In the years to come, one of my grandchildren may ask where I was on the historic day of April 7, 2022, when America broke down what seemed like an impossible racial barrier and voted to send the first Black woman to serve on our highest court,” Durbin said on the Senate floor before her confirmation vote “I will be proud to say I was on the Senate floor, standing at my desk, and casting my vote for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.”
Illinois residents know Durbin for his work advocating for infrastructure funding, securing federal dollars to modernize Illinois airports and helping establish the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which earlier this week honored him for his career.
Durbin was first elected to the Senate in 1996, succeeding Democratic Sen. Paul Simon. In the primary that year, Durbin defeated Pat Quinn, who would later become governor of Illinois. In the general election that year, Durbin defeated Al Salvi, the husband of Kathy Salvi, who now chairs the Illinois Republican Party.
Before his career in the Senate, Durbin practiced law in Springfield, Illinois, and served as legal counsel to Simon and then the Illinois State Senate Judiciary Committee. He then won a U.S. House seat in 1982, serving seven terms before running for Senate.
CORRECTION: An earlier headline on this story referred incorrectly to the length of Durbin’s Senate service. He is in his fifth term.
