With the upcoming departure of longtime Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in 2026, a battle will soon commence for his coveted role as Senate minority whip, the second-highest leadership role in the caucus next to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer.
“There comes a point in your career when the torch must be passed, and I’ve reached that point,” Durbin said during a press conference in Springfield Thursday. “I will not be seeking re-election to this United States Senate seat.”
Several names have already been floated for the whip job, including some typically vocal senators and others whose quiet policy chops appear just as attractive.
One candidate mentioned has been Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz.
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Schatz, 52, is in his third term and is Durbin’s current chief deputy whip as well as deputy conference secretary, a job involving communication and strategy for Senate Democrats.
He is also the top Democrat on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, given the Aloha State’s heavy native population.
Schatz has been active behind the scenes for liberals, placing holds on hundreds of Trump nominees for State Department positions in response to the president’s efforts to shutter USAID.
A former member of the Green Party in Hawaii, he is also considered a bridge between progressives and mainstream liberals.
A former top aide to previous Senate mainstays Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., told The Hill it’s hard to tell how leadership elections will go because they’re closed-door votes, but “as far as I can tell, Sen. Schatz seems to be in a pretty good position if he wants to take the leap.”
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Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is rumored to be a possible successor to Durbin as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to Politico.
Whitehouse has raised his profile as another one of President Donald Trump’s loudest critics, regularly creating viral clips of combativeness with administration nominees in the various hearings he’s sat in on.
Another lawmaker mentioned is Washington Sen. Patty Murray, who had been third in line to the presidency until the GOP took back the Senate.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa., now holds that role, which is typically held by the longest-serving senator of the majority party.
Murray is also the top Democrat on the influential Senate Appropriations Committee.
Frequently called the “mom in tennis shoes” who ran for the Senate in 1992 as a relative political newcomer, Murray once said she and others “got into the U.S. Senate because we were mad.”
She lobbied officials in Olympia to save an education program from budget cuts when she was told “you can’t make a difference,” according to a biography from the Washington Secretary of State’s office.
That populist history, along with Murray’s long tenure and closeness with leadership, could also make her a lock to succeed Durbin.
Fox News Digital reached out to Schatz, Whitehouse and Murray for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Durbin spoke tearfully about his decision to retire during a press conference outside the same Springfield home where he announced his first Senate run nearly 30 years ago.
He hearkened back to his risky move to give up a “safe House seat.”
“So, for the last 29 years, I’ve been vindicated that that decision paid off,” said Durbin.
“I love this job. I think it’s a terrific job, but I also know reality.”
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