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CIVIC HERALD
Richard J. Durbin

12th term · 43.7 years in office: 11 full terms completed, 1 in progress.

Senator · IL · Democrat · since Jan 1983

Richard J. Durbin

Bills authored 60Missed votes 4 of 214Party unity 43% derived, how we compute this

Counted from 214 roll calls and 288 sponsorship records on file.

Provisionalunreviewed: stated positions
Stray indexpending review

Who they are · every sentence carries its source

Before the votes, a life.

Richard Joseph Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, to an Irish-American father and a Lithuanian-born mother.Source 3: Wikipedia: Dick Durbin During high school, he worked at a meatpacking plant before earning a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in 1966 and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969.Source 3: Wikipedia: Dick Durbin After law school, he started a private law practice in Springfield, served as legal counsel to state officials, co-owned a local pub, and worked as an adjunct professor of medical law.Source 3: Wikipedia: Dick Durbin

Following unsuccessful runs for the state senate in 1976 and for lieutenant governor in 1978, Durbin won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1982.Source 3: Wikipedia: Dick Durbin He served seven terms in the House before winning election to the United States Senate in 1996.Source 3: Wikipedia: Dick Durbin He was reelected to the Senate in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020, and announced in 2025 that he would not seek another term.Source 3: Wikipedia: Dick Durbin

In their own words

“Over my four decades in Congress, I have had more than 3,000 interns work for me at one point or another, although my staff are convinced that the true number is even higher. These young people have covered me with glory, and it has been a great privilege to help them get their foot in the door of politics.”

Congressional Record · Aug 6, 2026 · Source

One rule for every member: their most recent dated, linkable statement about themselves.

The path here

  1. 1969

    Earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and was admitted to the Illinois bar.Source 3: Wikipedia: Dick Durbin

  2. 1969-1982

    Worked as legal counsel to the lieutenant governor and the Illinois State Senate Judiciary Committee.Source 3: Wikipedia: Dick Durbin

  3. 1983-1997

    Served seven terms in the United States House of Representatives.Source 3: Wikipedia: Dick Durbin

  4. 1997-Present

    Serves as a United States Senator from Illinois.Source 1: Richard J. Durbin — Biographical Directory of the United States CongressSource 3: Wikipedia: Dick Durbin

98.13% attendance · all roll calls we have ingested

2 sources

  1. 1Richard J. Durbin — Biographical Directory of the United States Congressbioguideopen source
  2. 3Wikipedia: Dick Durbinwikipediaopen source archived copy
Full record card

The record card · sourced from Bioguide, the Clerk and the FEC

43.7YRS

In office · 12th term · since Jan 1983

We hold certified results for U.S. House seats only.

98.13%

Attendance

senate median 98.13% (100 members)

Not a candidate in any election we track.

Figures cover all roll calls we have ingested.

Before Congress

  1. 1969 Earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and was admitted to the Illinois bar.
  2. 1969-1982 Worked as legal counsel to the lieutenant governor and the Illinois State Senate Judiciary Committee.
  3. 1983-1997 Served seven terms in the United States House of Representatives.
  4. 1997-Present Serves as a United States Senator from Illinois.
Senate Committee on the Judiciary ranking memberSenate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and ForestrySenate Committee on AppropriationsSenate Committee on the Judiciary · Crime and Counterterrorism subcommittee ranking memberSenate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Commodities, Derivatives, Risk Management, and Trade subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · Department of Defense subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · Energy and Water Development subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · Financial Services and General Government subcommitteeSenate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, and Food Safety subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies subcommittee60 bills authored · 0 enacted

Says vs. does · 72 issues in 6 clusters

Stated position vs. voting record.

The dashed shape is what they campaigned on. The solid shape is how they voted. Where the shapes separate, the record differs from the platform. The distance is measured. What it means is up to you.

SaysDoes
  • Economy & taxes: not yet stated; voted 44 of 100 toward FISCAL RESTRAINT.
  • Safety & enforcement: not yet stated; voted 47 of 100 toward STRICTER ENFORCEMENT.
  • Immigration: not yet stated; voted 27 of 100 toward TIGHTER LIMITS.
  • Rights & liberty: not yet stated; voted 57 of 100 toward INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY.
  • Environment & energy: not yet stated; voted 61 of 100 toward CONSERVE & PROTECT.
  • Governance & oversight: not yet stated; voted 69 of 100 toward DISCLOSURE & AUDIT.
Rim = strongest position on each cluster’s named pole · Same scale for every member · How we score ▸

pending review

The stats, cluster by cluster

6 clusters · 72 issues · sorted by gap size

Each rail runs between two positions real bills take. ○ marks what they campaigned on; ▪ marks how they voted. Select a cluster to open its issues.

GapSorted by gap size · How we score ▸

Receipts · recent votes on passage

How they voted.

Money & ties

Who's behind them.

How complete is this money picture?

12%of the money categories we track are publicly disclosed for this member, counting those that lawfully lag.

  • Campaign financeNot yet derived · 34%
  • Corporate-PAC shareNot yet derived · 22%
  • Disclosed tradesLagged · 12%
  • Lobbyist meetingsNot disclosed · 32%

Disclosed federally when a campaign committee registers; we do not yet hold FEC totals for this candidate.

Disclosed by the FEC; we have not built the honest derivation — same for every member.

Members must disclose trades within 45 days; this picture is always at least that far behind.

A gap in the disclosure system, not a statement about this member — lobbyist meetings are not federally disclosed for any member of Congress.

Weights are fixed product-wide and disclosed, so this percentage is comparable across members.

Who funds them

Disclosed federally when a campaign committee registers; we do not yet hold FEC totals for this candidate.

Disclosed trades

We hold no disclosed-trade filings for this member. That is a gap in what we have loaded; it does not mean none were filed.

FEC OpenFEC · disclosed trades: House Clerk / Senate filings.

Ideology placement

Economic (dim 1)-0.338
Social (dim 2)-0.314

Voteview DW-NOMINATE · retrieved Sep 7, 2026 — an external attributed reference, shown as context.

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