Nov. 05--Sen. Dick Durbin was all smiles Wednesday morning as he thanked voters for sending him back to Washington for a fourth term.
Flanked by campaign staffers carrying "thank you" signs, Durbin spent about a half an hour shaking hands with CTA riders and posing for pictures at the Red Line station on 95th Street.
The second-ranking Democrat in the Senate handily won re-election Tuesday, defeating state Sen. Jim Oberweis. But Republican gains in other states mean Durbin will spend at least two years in the minority, an effective demotion.
If Durbin was bothered by that, he didn't show it.
"I've been there, I've been in the minority before," he told reporters. "It humbles the exalted. But that's all right. There's still work to be done. And it's a bipartisan body. I think we'll work together."
Durbin said he understood why voters had punished Democrats in a number of races across the country.
"We were in control, at least in the Senate and in the White House," he said. "And it's normal, if you're upset, that the party in control is going to pay the price for it. I understand that."
kgeiger@tribune.com
