Daily Herald opinion: Sen. Dick Durbin has served our state, and our nation, well
Speculation over who might succeed U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin began long before the veteran lawmaker revealed Wednesday that he would not seek reelection next year.
After his announcement, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton kicked off the fray by declaring her candidacy early Thursday, and a who’s who of other Illinois Democrats are said to be weighing runs. State Republicans will be doing so as well, wondering if they have a chance to claim a U.S. Senate seat for the first time since incumbent Mark Kirk lost to Tammy Duckworth in 2016.
But before primary battles take shape and political dominoes start to fall, we should pause to consider Durbin’s career and contributions.
The downstate native was elected to the U.S. House in 1982 and the Senate in 1996, devoting more than half his life to representing Illinois in Washington, D.C. Now 80, Durbin spoke in a news conference Thursday of the role age played in his decision. Running again for a six-year term, he pointed out, called for an eight-year commitment he did not feel right making.
We respect that decision, knowing it could not have been an easy one in the aftermath of painful Democratic losses in November and the political turmoil that’s followed. Durbin acknowledged as much Thursday, noting that his anger over President Donald Trump’s actions made stepping away harder.
We have not always agreed with Durbin, but we have never questioned his commitment to our state and our nation. In endorsing Durbin in 2020, we noted he was a liberal who practiced “pragmatic politics” and hailed him as a “voice of reason in today's irrationally vitriolic political environment.”
That was true in 2020. And it is true today, amid a political climate that grows more fraught and bitter each passing week.
As the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Durbin wielded power, but he was known for collaboration and bipartisan legislation, including criminal justice reform and, with Utah Republican Orrin Hatch, the DREAM Act.
Durbin demonstrated political courage in tough times. When Senate support was strong for going to war with Iraq in 2002, Durbin voted against it. History shows it was the right call.
He voted for the recent GOP funding bill, angering progressives in his party, because he believed it was the responsible move to prevent a shutdown.
Durbin also supported the Illinois senators who served with him. Former President Barack Obama said Wednesday he would not have been a senator or president without Durbin’s support. And that support extended to Republican Kirk, whom Durbin hailed in the Senate as a friend, ally and “true champion for the state of Illinois.”
While positions as the Democratic whip and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee gave Durbin a national stage, he put in the work at home as well. He got personally involved in fighting against the EJ & E merger with CN, a key issue for the suburbs.
In an interview with the New York Times, however, Durbin looked back to his years in Congress for what he called “the most significant thing I’ve done in terms of changing America.”
Back in the 1980s, he led the push to ban smoking on airplanes, a move that spared generations of travelers from being trapped for hours in smoke-filled cabins. It was an important first step in changing a culture where the right to smoke — in planes, restaurants, offices and even hospitals — was prioritized over the health and comfort of nonsmokers, including children.
For that, we are forever grateful.
In making his announcement Wednesday, Durbin noted his love for serving in the Senate. “But in my heart,” he added, “I know it’s time to pass the torch.”
Who carries that torch forward remains to be seen. We hope that whoever it is will do so with the decency and dedication we have always admired in Dick Durbin.