Richard Durbin

Votes Cast

50

Yea Rate

44.0%

Bills Sponsored

10

Missed Votes

0.0%

Dick Durbin is Illinois' senior Democratic senator, Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, and Senate Democratic Whip.

Richard Joseph Durbin is the senior U.S. Senator from Illinois, a Democrat first elected in 1996 and now in his fifth term after winning re-election in 2020. An East St. Louis native and Georgetown Law graduate, Durbin worked for Illinois Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon and as parliamentarian of the Illinois State Senate before winning election to the U.S. House in 1982, where he served seven terms before moving to the Senate. In the 119th Congress, Durbin serves as Senate Democratic Whip, the number-two position in Senate leadership, and is Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee. He also sits on Agriculture and Appropriations. His signature issues include immigration reform, the DREAM Act, federal sentencing and criminal justice, gun safety, and oversight of the federal judiciary. Durbin chaired the Judiciary Committee from 2021 to 2025, leading the Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court nomination hearings. He announced in 2025 that he would not seek re-election in 2026.