Former President Obama lavished praise on Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Wednesday, after the No. 2 Senate Democrat announced he will not seek reelection next year.
Obama, in a post online, gave Durbin credit for his own successful political career.
“As an Illinois voter, I couldn’t be prouder that our senator for the last 28 years has been one of the finest in the country. Dick Durbin has always fought the good fight on behalf of working families, and his integrity shines through in everything he does,” Obama wrote in a post on social platform X, shortly after the Durbin shared his upcoming retirement news.
“It’s also true that I would not have been a United States Senator — and certainly would not have been President — had it not been for Dick’s support,” the former Democratic president said. “He has been a great and loyal friend, and Michelle and I wish him and Loretta all the best in their next chapter.”
Durbin was elected to the upper chamber in 1996 and is currently in his fifth term. Prior to his stint in the Senate, he served on the House side representing Illinois’s 20th District — from 1983 to 1997. The senator is now the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The decision of whether to run for reelection has not been easy. I truly love the job of being United States Senator,” he said in a video shared online Wednesday. “But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch.”
“So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking reelection at the end of my term,” he added.
Obama served alongside Durbin as the junior senator from 2005 until his inauguration to the White House in 2009. He kicked off his Senate campaign in 2003 after running an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid against then-Rep. Bobby L. Rush (R-Ill.) for the Prairie State’s 1st Congressional District.
He won the competitive primary to replace former Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) with 53 percent of the vote and eventually secured the seat in the general, tallying 70 percent of the vote against Republican candidate Alan Keyes.
Prior to joining national politics, he was an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2005.