Durbin is the senior senator from Illinois and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 7, 1997. Durbin is next up for reelection in 2026 and serves until Jan 3, 2027.
He is also Senate Majority Whip, a party leadership role. Party leaders focus more on setting their party’s legislative priorties than on introducing legislation.
He was previously the representative for Illinois’s 20th congressional district as a Democrat from 1983 to 1996.
![Photo of Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]](/static/legislator-photos/300038-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2020 Report Card for Durbin.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Durbin is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Durbin has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Dec 6, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Richard Durbin sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Durbin was the primary sponsor of 38 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 611: VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021
- S. 473: COVID–19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act of 2021
- S. 3478 (116th): Commission on America’s Medical Security Act
- S. 2535 (115th): Opioid Quota Reform Act
- S. 2830 (115th): SIREN Act of 2018
- S. 3345 (114th): A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1101 Davis Street in Evanston, Illinois, as the “Abner J. Mikva Post Office …
- S. 2891 (114th): A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 525 North Broadway in Aurora, Illinois, as the “Kenneth M. Christy Post Office …
Does 38 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Durbin sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (22%) Crime and Law Enforcement (19%) Education (15%) International Affairs (10%) Taxation (9%) Labor and Employment (8%) Armed Forces and National Security (8%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Durbin’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 3313: A bill to amend the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 to extend …
- S. 3271: Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021
- S. 3251: Court Legal Access and Student Support Act of 2021
- S.Res. 456: A resolution expressing support for a free, fair, and peaceful December 4, 2021, …
- S. 3141: New Philadelphia National Historical Park Act
- S. 3103: Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act of 2021
- S. 3043: Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act of 2021
View All » | View Cosponsors »
As Senate Majority Whip, Durbin may be focused on his responsibilities other than introducing legislation, such as setting the chamber’s agenda, uniting his party, and brokering deals.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1997 to Dec 2021, Durbin missed 90 of 8,037 roll call votes, which is 1.1%. This is better than the median of 1.7% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
