Dick Durbin

Richard Joseph Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, on November 21, 1944. He earned a B.S. from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1966 and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1969.

He was legal counsel to Illinois Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon from 1969 to 1972 and to the Illinois state senate judiciary committee from 1972 to 1982, and an associate professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine from 1978 to 1983. He served in the House from January 3, 1983, to January 2, 1997.

Durbin was elected to the Senate on November 5, 1996, filling the seat left vacant by the retirement of Senator Paul Simon, and was re-elected in 2002, 2008, 2014 and 2020; the Senate dates his service from January 3, 1997. His office says Senate Democrats have elected him whip every two years since 2005. He chaired the Judiciary Committee in the 117th and 118th Congresses, is now its ranking member, and also sits on Appropriations and Agriculture.