Dick Durbin
| Dick Durbin | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Senate Minority Whip | |
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Assumed office January 3, 2015 |
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| Leader |
Harry Reid Chuck Schumer |
| Preceded by | John Cornyn |
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In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2007 |
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| Leader | Harry Reid |
| Preceded by | Harry Reid |
| Succeeded by | Trent Lott |
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United States Senator from Illinois |
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Assumed office January 3, 1997 Serving with Tammy Duckworth |
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| Preceded by | Paul Simon |
| Senate Majority Whip | |
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In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2015 |
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| Leader | Harry Reid |
| Preceded by | Mitch McConnell |
| Succeeded by | John Cornyn |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 20th district |
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In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Paul Findley |
| Succeeded by | John Shimkus |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Richard Joseph Durbin November 21, 1944 East St. Louis, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Loretta Schaefer |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Georgetown University (BS, JD) |
| Website | Senate website |
Richard Joseph "Dick" Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is the senior United States Senator from Illinois, in office since 1997. He has been the Assistant Minority Leader (whip), the second highest position in the Democratic Party leadership in the Senate, since 2015.
Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. He graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Georgetown University Law Center. Working in state legal counsel throughout the 1970s, he made an unsuccessful run for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 1978. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, representing the Springfield-based 20th congressional district. In 1996, he won election to the U.S. Senate by an unexpected 15-point margin. He has served as Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, and for a period of eight years (2007–2015) served as the Senate Majority Whip. He is currently dean of the Illinois congressional delegation, as he has served in Congress since 1983 as a US Representative from Illinois 20th Congressional District and from 1997, as a US Senator from Illinois.
Senator Durbin now serves as the Senate Minority Whip following the 2014 midterm election, where the Republicans gained a majority in the U.S. Senate. Durbin won reelection in the 2014 midterm election, beating his Republican opponent, Jim Oberweis, by a margin of 53.55% to 42.69%.
Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, to an Irish-American father, William Durbin, and a Lithuanian-born mother, Anna (née Kutkin; Lithuanian: Ona Kutkaitė). He graduated from Assumption High School in East St. Louis in 1962. During his high school years he worked at a meatpacking plant. He earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1966. He was an intern in the office of Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois during his senior year in college. Durbin earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969 and was admitted to the Illinois bar later that year.
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Wikipedia