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Anonymous ID: 3daf38 April 23, 2025, 8:39 a.m. No.22943877   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3952 >>4234 >>4451 >>4525

>>22943858

Longtime Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin won’t seek reelection

The 80-year-old Democrat told WBEZ in an Illinois exclusive that age was a factor in his not seeking a sixth term in Congress.

 

Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin will not seek a sixth term next year, confirming to WBEZ in an Illinois exclusive that he will leave office in 2027 in a long-awaited move certain to set off a massive, intraparty succession fight.

 

“I’ve decided not to run for re-election. So a year and a half from now, I’ll be wrapping up. I plan on working full-time until that moment, but I’m not going to be waging a campaign for re-election,” Durbin said during an interview in downtown Chicago.

 

A major reason for his decision boiled down to one thing: his age. By the time a sixth term would end, Durbin would be 88.

 

“It’s time,” Illinois’ 80-year-old senior senator said. “You observe your colleagues and watch what happens. For some of them, there’s this miraculous aging process where they never seem to get too old.

 

“Take Bernie Sanders, for example, who’s older than myself, or Chuck Grassley, who still does a town meeting in every county of the state each year,” he continued, referring to Vermont’s octogenarian independent U.S. senator and to Iowa’s nonagenarian Republican senator, who both are older than Durbin.

 

“But for a number of other people, they’re not so lucky,” he continued. “So, you watch aging, and I try to gauge it to the point where I can walk out the front door. I don’t have to be carried out. I feel that way now. I’m physically and mentally strong. But I don’t want to wait too long and test fate.”

 

Durbin had kept a tight lid on his decision, sharing news with a very close circle of friends. Durbin notified his staff Wednesday morning that he would not be seeking re-election.

 

WBEZ and The New York Times first reported Durbin’s decision.

 

The long list of potential successors

 

His announcement figures to have seismic effects on Illinois politics, where a long roster of Democrats quietly have been jockeying since last year to position themselves as his heir apparent should he decide to step aside.

 

The list of potential Democratic successors is long and led by the likes of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and northwest suburban U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who has amassed a $19 million political warchest.

 

Other Democrats potentially in the mix include U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly.

 

Durbin said he does not intend to endorse a candidate in the primary — unless he thinks something emerges that “is serious and I need to address it.”

 

“There are at least a dozen names that I think are serious. You’ve named a number of them,” he said, citing the list of potential candidates listed above. “But there is a larger number who have approached me and said they might be interested in it.”

 

moar…

 

https://www.wbez.org/politics/2025/04/23/senator-dick-durbin-illinois-reelection-decision-sixth-term

Anonymous ID: 3daf38 April 23, 2025, 10:09 a.m. No.22944277   🗄️.is 🔗kun

"Epstein vibes" Katie Hopkins reveals shock Maddie McCann suspicion amid fury over the investigation

 

Katie Hopkins weighs in on the growing controversy over the £13 million (total spend since 2007) the Met Police are spending on the 18-year-old search for missing Maddie McCann.

 

She also reveals that when she worked at The Sun, she wasn't allowed to write about Madeleine McCann.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3gvpEeSQGg