Jim Durkin

Jim Durkin was raised in Westchester, Illinois, one of eight brothers. He attended Divine Infant grade school and Fenwick High School. He later attended Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal and graduated in 1984 with a degree in Criminal Justice.[2] He continued his education at John Marshall Law School in Chicago, where he received his Juris Doctor degree in 1989. He served as an assistant Illinois Attorney General and an assistant Cook County State's Attorney where he served as a felony prosecutor and a special prosecutor in the narcotics unit.[2] His brother, Thomas, is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.[3] Durkin is on the board of trustees at the John Marshall Law School, and on the board of trustees for Misercordia Home in Chicago. Durkin lives in Western Springs, Illinois with his wife Celeste, daughter and three step-daughters.[2][4]

In 1991, Durkin was elected to the Board of Trustees for Triton Community College District 504.[5] Durkin was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives on January 6, 1995 and served until 2002.[6][7] Durkin was appointed to succeed Thomas J. Walsh after Walsh was appointed to the Illinois Senate to replace Judy Baar Topinka upon her election as Illinois Treasurer.[8]

In 2000, he served as state chairman for U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign in Illinois,[9] and then in 2007, Illinois co-chair and national legislative co-chair for McCain's second presidential campaign.

In the 2001 decennial redistricting, Durkin was drawn into the same district as fellow Republican Bob Biggins and opted not to run for reelection.[10]

In 2002, Jim Durkin ran for U.S. Senate against incumbent Dick Durbin. Durkin self-identified as a fiscal conservative and a social moderate.[4] Durkin received the Republican nomination with 46%, or 371,000 votes, defeating multi-millionaires Jim Oberweis and John H. Cox in the primary. He lost to Durbin in the general election, with 38%, or 1,302,000 votes.[11]

• 2006 Republican primary for State Rep. 82nd District
  • Jim Durkin 78.4%
  • William D. "Bill" Seith 21.6%
• 2006 election for State Rep. 82nd District
  • Jim Durkin (R) 65%
  • Kim Savage (D) 35%

Representative Durkin served as ranking Republican on the Illinois House impeachment committee in December 2008–January 2009. U.S. Senator Roland Burris testified in front of the committee, but his testimony was called into question by a later Burris affidavit, in February 2009. Representative Durkin was then quoted as saying "I can't believe anything that comes out of Mr. Burris at this point," and called for Senator Burris' resignation.[16][17]

Durkin called for a criminal perjury investigation of Senator Burris, and "scoffed at the notion that Mr. Burris had not been granted time to mention such relevant conversations or that lawmakers had moved on." The news report continued that "Republicans also questioned why it had taken Mr. Burris nearly a month to amend his testimony, and why lawmakers had not heard of the amendments until they were revealed on Saturday in The Chicago Sun-Times — more than a week after he sent them." Democrat Barbara Flynn Currie, chair of the impeachment committee, was the recipient of the follow-up affidavit. Senator Burris filed it February 5 or so with Currie, so she became one of the objects of Republican questions and criticism over the delayed release of the information.[18]

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Representative Jim Durkin (R) 82nd District at the Illinois General Assembly
  • By session: 98th, 97th, 96th, 95th, 94th
• Jim Durkin constituency website
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Profile, ilhousegop.org; accessed December 11, 2014.