Durbin's retirement will kick off one of the first open leadership contests in a decade, continuing a generational change in the Senate Democratic caucus. Durbin, 80, was facing reelection next year. Durbin is a longtime member of Senate Democratic leadership and has been in the Senate since 1997. He has served in Congress since 1983. His retirement will also open up what is likely to be a hotly-contested primary in Illinois to fill the Senate seat.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, announced on Wednesday that he would not be seeking reelection, capping off a decades-long Senate career. First elected in 1996, the 80-year-old Durbin has served in the upper chamber for five terms. Speculation around his next steps has been growing for months, particularly earlier this month when he reported raising roughly $42,000 between January and March of this year. “The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy. I truly love the job of being a United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch,” Durbin wrote on the social platform X.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) will not run for a sixth term in the Senate, clearing the way for a younger crop of Democrats to compete for his seat. Durbin, 80, announced Wednesday that he will retire from the Senate in 2026. The decision had been expected, with the senator raising a paltry $43,000 in the first quarter. But his announcement means that Democrats who were previously mounting a shadow primary can now run openly for one of Illiniois’s two Senate seats. It also opens the door to a rare leadership shake-up in the Senate, where Durbin has been the Democratic whip for two decades.