Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 20th district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by
Paul Findley
Succeeded by
John Shimkus
Personal details
Born
Richard Joseph Durbin
(1944-11-21) November 21, 1944 (age 79) East St. Louis, Illinois, U.S.
Political party
Democratic
Spouse
Loretta Schaefer
(m. 1967)
Children
3[note 1]
Residence(s)
Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
Education
Georgetown University (BS, JD)
Occupation
Politician
lawyer
Signature
Website
Senate website
Dick Durbin's voice
Dick Durbin speaks in support of the DREAM Act Recorded December 18, 2010
Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin is in his fifth Senate term and has served as the Senate Democratic whip since 2005 (the second-highest position in the Democratic leadership in the Senate) and as the Senate majority whip since 2021. He chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee,[2] and led the Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court nomination hearings.
Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. He graduated from the School of Foreign Service and the Georgetown University Law Center. Working in state legal counsel throughout the 1970s, he made an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor of Illinois in 1978. He later maintained a private law practice and co-owned a pub in Springfield. Durbin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, representing the Springfield-based 20th congressional district.
After serving seven House terms, Durbin was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and reelected in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020. He has served as the Senate Democratic whip since 2005—under Harry Reid until 2017, and under Chuck Schumer since 2017. During that time, he had two stints as Senate majority whip (from 2007 to 2015, and since 2021), and two as minority whip (from 2005 to 2007 and from 2015 to 2021). As of 2024, Durbin is the longest-serving Senate party whip in U.S. history. He is the dean of Illinois's congressional delegation.
^"Sen. Dick Durbin's daughter dies". CNN. November 1, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
^DeBonis, Mike; Kane, Paul. "Senate Democrats clear the way for Durbin to be party's leader on Judiciary Committee". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
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reelection campaign. Durbin adopted the nickname "Dick", which he did not previously use, after Douglas mistakenly called him by that name. Durbin earned his J...
Dodd–Frank financial reform legislation in 2010, as a last-minute addition by DickDurbin, a senator from Illinois, after whom the amendment is named. After the...
DickDurbin, who had been Senate Minority Whip since 2015, won reelection to a fifth term in office, defeating Republican nominee Mark Curran. Durbin...
would attain permanent residency. In April 2001, United States Senators DickDurbin (D-Illinois) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) first introduced the bill in the...
elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Whip DickDurbin ran for re-election to a fourth term. He was unopposed in the Democratic...
January 3, 2007 Leader Bill Frist Preceded by Harry Reid Succeeded by DickDurbin Chair of the Senate Rules Committee In office January 20, 2001 – June...
years after being sworn in on January 12, 2015, while Democratic senator DickDurbin was re-elected with 53% of the vote. In 2016, Hillary Clinton carried...
again ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, losing to Democratic incumbent DickDurbin. In 2020, Oberweis ran for a third time in the 14th congressional district...
colleagues also gave tributes, including Chuck Schumer, Patrick Leahy, DickDurbin, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley and Mike Lee as well as Nevada Governor...
third term in office. In the Democratic primary, U.S. Representative DickDurbin emerged victorious, while state representative Al Salvi won the Republican...
Sen. DickDurbin's seat". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 5, 2019. @chooselove2020 (December 3, 2019). "While our campaign to unseat DickDurbin has...
Schumer and Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee including DickDurbin, Sheldon Whitehouse, Richard Blumenthal, Amy Klobuchar, and Patrick Leahy...
Majority Leader Bill Frist, President George W. Bush, and Vice President Dick Cheney, described Daschle as the "chief obstructionist" of Bush's agenda:...
African-American senators. Illinois's current U.S. senators are Democrats DickDurbin (serving since 1997) and Tammy Duckworth (serving since 2017). Shelby...
Dodin returned to work for Senator DickDurbin after graduation in the fall of 2006. Her early years with Durbin were spent as an aide for the United...
consists of 93 representatives. Senators DickDurbin (D-IL) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) co-chair the SUC. Senator Durbin co-founded the caucus along with now-retired...
Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator DickDurbin sought re-election to a second term in the United States Senate. Durbin defeated Republican challenger State...
history, and the longest-serving Senate party leaders (Mitch McConnell and DickDurbin). The 118th Congress has been characterized as a uniquely ineffectual...
contributions to political campaigns. The organization helped Senator DickDurbin write the Fair Elections Now Act. The Brennan Center advocated for the...
Ukraine In Senate Appropriations Hearing | U.S. Senator DickDurbin of Illinois". www.durbin.senate.gov. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023...
On December 12, Senator Grassley [R-IA], along with cosponsor Senator DickDurbin [D-IL], introduced a revised version of S. 3649 as S. 3747, which preserved...
from Illinois Incumbent Assumed office January 3, 2017 Serving with DickDurbin Preceded by Mark Kirk Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee...
U.S. Senator DickDurbin sought a third term in office and faced minimal opposition from Republican Steve Sauerberg. As expected, Durbin overwhelmingly...
by President Donald Trump, of which he was recommended to by Senator DickDurbin. Koos was re-nominated by President Joe Biden in April 2022. He was finally...
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