WASHINGTON _ Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois will keep his No. 2 spot in Senate Democratic leadership after a vote by his colleagues Wednesday, when he also ruled out a challenge to Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018.
Durbin will remain Senate minority whip in an expanded leadership team under Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the next Senate minority leader.
After the vote, Durbin was asked how staying on as his party's Senate whip would affect the prospects of challenging Rauner.
Durbin said: "I kept telling people of Illinois, I've got a pretty important job working in the United States Senate in the No. 2 Democratic position.
"It was interesting to me that the day after the (Nov. 8) election, many of them came up to me and said, 'Stay in the Senate. We need you.'"
Asked by a reporter whether that was his choice, Durbin replied, "That's my choice."
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