Dick Durbin
Richard Joseph Dick Durbin is the senior United States Senator from Illinois, in office since 1997. He has been the Assistant Minority Leader , the second highest position in the Democratic Party leadership in the Senate, since 2015.
Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. He graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Georgetown University Law Center. Working in state legal counsel throughout the 1970s, he made an unsuccessful run for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 1978. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, representing the Springfieldbased 20th congressional district. In 1996, he won election to the U.S. Senate by an unexpected 15point margin. He has served as Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, and for a period of eight years served as the Senate Majority Whip. He is currently dean of the Illinois congressional delegation, as he has served in Congress since 1983 as a US Representative from Illinois 20th Congressional District and from 1997, as a US Senator from Illinois.
Source: Wikipedia