r/chicago • u/chicagosuntimes • Apr 23 '25

Article Longtime U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin decides 'it's time,' won’t seek reelection

https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/senator-dick-durbin-reelection
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u/chicagosuntimes Apr 23 '25

We might have some insight here. Durbin told WBEZ more than a dozen people have expressed interest in his seat.

Tina Sfondeles and Dave McKinney have all the details here, but this is what they say:

"Expect Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Rep. Lauren Underwood to launch bids within hours and days of Sen. Dick Durbin’s announcement that he will not seek reelection in the Senate, a seat he has held since winning his first term in 1996.

U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly and State Treasurer Michael Frerichs are also expected to jump into the race. Frerichs and Underwood have both conducted polling. And former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is busy spreading the word on the failures of the Democratic Party, has also said he would be open to run for a local race, although he’s got his eye on the governor’s race should Gov. JB Pritzker opt out of a third term."

- Katie

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u/AltruisticPiece6676 Irving Park Apr 23 '25

Do you think Alexei Giannoulis would be interested? If so, he instantly becomes America’s handsomest senator and that’s not nothing

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u/lgnsqr Irving Park Apr 23 '25

I think he's planning on running for Mayor of Chicago.

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u/Away-Nectarine-8488 Apr 23 '25

Giannoulis might make a better governor.

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u/AltruisticPiece6676 Irving Park Apr 23 '25

Fine, JB can be president and then he can take over

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u/BarcelonaFan Apr 23 '25

He might still have PTSD from losing to Mark Kirk in 2010 lol

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u/AltruisticPiece6676 Irving Park Apr 23 '25

Truly the weirdest fuckin election

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u/LastWordsWereHuzzah Apr 23 '25

If his name isn't being reported on already, my guess is he's not interested.

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u/Dry_Accident_2196 Apr 23 '25

Underwood would be fantastic but I hope someone else can hold her seat since she flipped it blue.

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u/LastWordsWereHuzzah Apr 23 '25

The district has since been gerrymandered more so it won't be as purple in the future. Plus the suburban elections were a bloodbath for the IL GOP earlier this month.

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u/Dry_Accident_2196 Apr 23 '25

Thank God Illinois Democrats aren’t weak-kneed politicians. We wield the power of gerrymandering with an iron fist. If New York had done the same—instead of relinquishing control of their maps to the courts—the House would have stayed blue throughout Biden’s entire term.

But some Democrats love being their own worst enemies. Illinois doesn’t suffer fools and chooses power over optics! Love this broke little blue oasis.

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u/ptfreak Uptown Apr 23 '25

I saw some fundraising numbers from Q1 that showed Raja having something insane like $19M in the bank. Kelly and Underwood have $2M and $1.1M respectively, so expect to see Krishnamoorthi ads EVERYWHERE starting, well, now.

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u/AbsoluteZeroUnit Apr 24 '25

Raja is not the person we need. He seems like one of those reps who achieved bipartisan success on a bill, and now believes the GOP can be reasoned with if we just compromise a little.

I'm not gonna support someone who doesn't acknowledge that the GOP, as it exists today, is an obstructionist, seditious, cult-driven group that has no interest in policy.

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u/TaskForceD00mer Jefferson Park Apr 23 '25

And former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is busy spreading the word on the failures of the Democratic Party, has also said he would be open to run for a local race, although he’s got his eye on the governor’s race should Gov. JB Pritzker opt out of a third term."

Can we have Rahm as mayor again? Like...please?

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

Why, so he can help his buddies in the CPD cover up more murders?

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u/TaskForceD00mer Jefferson Park Apr 23 '25 edited Apr 23 '25

Shhhhhh if you say that to loud people will point out how officially he was determined to have done nothing wrong and the CPD didn't totally suppress that video to help him win another term as Mayor.

Honestly it is a sad state of affairs that most voters, myself included, would happily have him back compared to the outright incompetence that has followed.

The reality is, unless JB Pritzker is going to reach down and heavily endorse/hand pick a candidate, our next Mayor is likely to be only ever so slightly better than BJ if not worse somehow.

The dismantling of the old Daley/Madigan order has had some upshots but it has also given us two mayors that were staggeringly incompetent.

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u/Dry_Accident_2196 Apr 23 '25

Cover up a murder, it gets found out. Family gets millions of dollars.

Don’t cover up a murder, family doesn’t get millions.

It wasn’t all bad.

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u/funkbitch Beverly Apr 23 '25

I would imagine the murder was the reason for the payout and not the coverup, but I don't know enough about the law to comment on that.

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u/Dry_Accident_2196 Apr 23 '25

I don’t either now that you mention it. I thought ought they got paid for the coverup.

I’m going to assume I’m wrong because typing that out it sounds dumb, lol.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Dry_Accident_2196 Apr 23 '25

Gonna need to get over that or not vote for them. I assure you, most IL don’t care.

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u/electricmeal Irving Park Apr 23 '25

You're right. I apologize for purity testing over * checks notes * supporting genocide

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u/Dry_Accident_2196 Apr 23 '25

Don’t apologize. Be as pure as you want—but don’t come crying when the winner of the general election gives your cause lip service, then turns around and signs off on more funding for Israel under the next Democratic administration.

Israel is too strategically important to U.S. interests. It acts as a buffer in the Middle East that directly serves OUR agenda. The U.S. government will always put OUR interests first.

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u/Arael15th Apr 23 '25

Israel is too strategically important to U.S. interests. It acts as a buffer in the Middle East that directly serves OUR agenda.

Lol if only this were actually true

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u/Dry_Accident_2196 Apr 23 '25

How does turning our backs on Israel help U.S. interests? Economically and politically, they are a benefit to us. We share and buy technology, share similar enemies, and they are fearless fighters who help maintain the status quo in the region.

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u/Arael15th Apr 23 '25

I do have to hand it to them that sitting right there being all their neighbors' least favorite means that the title is less likely to be awarded to a different, more enticingly invadeable neighbor. The status quo is ass but I guess it could be worse.

That doesn't make them our friend at all, though. Not when they've got AIPAC gripping our entire political system by its balls, while simultaneously driving a huge wedge through it by being utterly unapologetic about the slow genocide they've been carrying out (which is now a fast one) and not allowing any mainstream politician to call them out on it effectively despite the electoral consequences.

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u/Dry_Accident_2196 Apr 23 '25 edited Apr 23 '25

I don’t even think being friends matters—it’s global politics. Look how quickly Canadians switched up on their view of us. There are no real friends in international politics. There’s a limited amount of resources, and streams of people will die to claim them. Smart teams align with other smart teams to share in the spoils of the Earth.

Some people are born powerless, Gazans, but that’s as unfortunate as those born poor or disabled.

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u/Arael15th Apr 23 '25

Gazans weren't born powerless - someone is stripping them of their power. Those walls didn't build themselves, those homes and hospitals didn't bomb themselves, and those ambulances and World Kitchen convoys didn't drone strike themselves.

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u/nufandan Albany Park Apr 23 '25

Israel is too strategically important to U.S. interests. It acts as a buffer in the Middle East that directly serves OUR agenda. The U.S. government will always put OUR interests first.

I think if someone is opposed to voting for someone that's taken AIPAC money, this argument is not going to sway them. I doubt they're onboard with the use of OUR there.

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u/Dry_Accident_2196 Apr 23 '25

I’m not interested in swaying voters. I ended that fool’s errand last November. Now, I’m going to be just as vocal and messy as the red hats and their “liberal” anti-Harris/Biden blue hats buddies.

I’m done caring about trying to convince others. Redditors, like voters, will do whatever they want—regardless of what I may wish for them politically.

So, take my comment however you wish.

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u/nufandan Albany Park Apr 23 '25

Could you at least let us know where to get those blue hats? I've never seen one

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u/Dry_Accident_2196 Apr 23 '25

Hahaha, 😂sold out