(The Center Square) – With Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin not seeking another term, Illinois voters will have a chance to pick a new member of Congress next year.
Durbin, D-Springfield, announced through social media that he wasn’t running again Wednesday. Around an hour after, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he’s not ready to endorse anyone.
“That’s something that I’ll decide later, but again this is a moment for us to just recognize great public service,” Pritzker said at an unrelated event in Decatur Wednesday.
Thursday morning, Pritzker’s second in command, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, announced she is running for Durbin’s seat.
“Join our campaign and together we can stop [President Donald] Trump and stand up for Illinois,” Stratton said in a campaign video posted to social media.
Outside his home in Springfield Thursday, Durbin said he isn’t endorsing anyone, but has had conversations.
“I did have a conversation with Juliana and she told me that she was interested but she wasn’t going to run against me and others have done the same and when it came to J.B., I gave him a call before I made the announcement yesterday,” Durbin said from his backyard.
More names are expected to surface among Democrats and Republicans. The primary election is March 17, 2026.
Durbin laid out at least one quality he would be looking for in a candidate.
“I think that person who is successful in running for this office is going to understand they’ve got to not only represent the entire state, they have to work the entire state,” Durbin said.
