As the political landscape shifts and buzzes with anticipation over U.S Senator Dick Durbin's decision on whether to seek re-election in 2026, one potential candidate has definitively cleared the air about his intentions. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul stated this Tuesday, he will not be vying for the senatorial position—or any other elected office shortly—instead opting to continue his work at the state level. "I do not want to go to Washington. I want to stay here," Raoul announced to a City Club of Chicago luncheon crowd, as ABC7 Chicago reported. He added, "And this is no knock on Sen. Durbin or Sen. (Tammy) Duckworth. I truly believe what I do on a day-to-day basis (as attorney general) has more impact than what I could do as U.S. senator."
At 60, confronting President Donald Trump's policy moves, such as birthright citizenship and federal funding freezes, Raoul has been the subject of significant speculation. Anxiously waiting for Durbin's decision, his remarks firmly withdraw his name from the succession conversation, suggesting that, staying put, he can better serve—to counter the Trump administration's actions from his current post, he expressed. Raoul, having served 15 years in the Illinois Senate before he was elected attorney general in 2018, emphasized, "I know that the attorney general’s office, and it’s in every state, produces more than a single U.S. senator can for its constituency," according to Capitol News Illinois.
Meanwhile, Durbin—the Democratic whip—has faced his controversies. He recently aligned with a GOP spending plan decision that, while averting a government shutdown, purportedly green-lights sweeping cuts over the next decade. Governor JB Pritzker was quick to label the vote "a huge mistake." Yet Durbin defended his choice, citing a career-long aversion to shutdowns, countering with a rationale, "I have never voted for a shutdown and I didn't last week."
Raoul refrained from overt criticism of the ongoing fiscal debates within the Democratic ranks. While the spending vote stirred discord, "I don’t know how I would have voted on the continuing resolution," Raoul mentioned, recognizing the complexities faced by his congressional colleagues at the moment—the pressures and negotiations unseen by the public eye. "But I'm not going to drag anybody over the coals without a very healthy, well-informed debate about everything that they were facing in that moment," he told ABC7 Chicago.
