2026 midterms · Candidate
Democrat · Candidate · U.S. Senate, Illinois · Incumbent
In the top quarter of Democratic Senate incumbents (their average is 21%; Durbin ranks 3rd of 20, where 1st is the highest rate), from 52,003 statements.
An AI model reads everything Durbin publishes in office (posts, press releases, newsletters, floor speeches) and marks whether each criticizes a specific policy, law or ruling; the rate is the share marked.
What Durbin says
26% of Durbin’s statements criticize a policy, in the top quarter of Democratic Senate incumbents. Their average is 21%.
An AI model reads everything Durbin publishes in office and marks five kinds of statement; the rate is the share of statements with each label. The thin grey bar is the average of the 20 Democratic Senate incumbents with 50 or more statements, and the rank places Durbin among them (1st is the highest rate). A rate describes what was said, not whether it was right.
How often does Durbin make each kind of statement?
Share of statements: Durbin (thick bar) against the Democratic Senate incumbents average (thin grey bar)
Show the data
| Row | Durbin | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 3.4% | 3.7% |
| Policy criticism | 26% | 21% |
| Policy discussion | 68% | 69% |
| Bipartisanship | 9.7% | 11% |
| Credit claiming | 14% | 21% |
statements classified
From everything they publish in office: posts, press releases, newsletters and floor speeches.
This compares Durbin with other candidates. Durbin’s official profile compares Durbin with fellow office-holders and has every statement, vote and bill.
The five kinds of statement
Personal attacks. Overtly questions a named person’s character, integrity or loyalty, or calls them names. Criticising a record or a policy does not count.
Policy criticism. Objects to a specific policy, law or court ruling with fact-based arguments, without personal attacks or emotional appeals.
Policy discussion. Discusses a specific public policy or policy area (health care, taxes, defense, …).
Bipartisanship. Emphasises working across the aisle, compromise or common ground between the parties.
Credit claiming. Claims credit for passing legislation, securing funding or grants, or other accomplishments in office.
Money
Totals the campaign reports to the Federal Election Commission for the 2026 cycle, as filed.
No FEC figures are on file for this candidate.
Online
Engagement is what X reports for each collected post, averaged; it measures reach, not support.
No engagement figures are on file for this account.
The race
Illinois Senate: Durbin is not among the candidates recorded as advancing from this primary. Primary Mar 17, 2026. General election Nov 3, 2026.
This race is not among the races the lab lists as rated toss-up or leaning.
Who else is on the list?
Candidates recorded as advancing from the primary
- Juliana StrattonDOpen seat · advanced
- Don TracyROpen seat · advanced
The race page compares every candidate’s statements and money · every race in Illinois
Methods and sources
The headline. Each candidate’s headline is chosen by one rule for everyone. The peer group is the ranked candidates (50 or more statements) of the same party, for the same office and measured on the same record, widened to both parties when it has fewer than 10. Each kind of statement is scored by how far the candidate sits from the middle of the group (|percentile − 0.5|, ties counting half); the farthest leads if it is outside the middle half (above 0.25), scores within 0.03 tie and fall to a fixed order, and a high rate backed by fewer than 10 labelled statements cannot lead. Otherwise the headline is a plain count.
The statements. As an incumbent member of Congress, this candidate is measured on everything the lab collects from them in office: posts on X, press releases, newsletters and floor speeches. An AI model marks each statement for five kinds of statement; rates are shown from 10 statements and ranked from 50.
The race. Candidates come from FEC filings (House and Senate), the lab’s list of sitting members of Congress, and the lab’s list of candidates for governor. The lab records each primary’s result once it is official. House districts follow FEC filings; a sitting member is placed in the race for the seat they hold now.
Identifiers. FEC candidate id S6IL00151 (FEC record). Bioguide id D000563. First FEC filing Jun 19, 1995.
Money and reach. Campaign money is as reported to the FEC. Followers, likes and views are what X reports for the posts the lab collected.