“I am honored my colleagues continue to place their trust in me as their Leader. Having only held the position for one year, I am pleased with the successes of our caucus. Standing together, we were able to stop several tax increases and fought against the abuse of taxpayer dollars. We led the charge for job creation, and worked in bi-partisan manner on issues important to public safety such as a capital program. Mostly, I am proud of the fact that the House Republican caucus is unified and stronger than ever,” said Durkin.
“As a caucus we are ready for the challenges ahead and are anxious to get to work with our new Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, to bring needed change to Illinois,” said Durkin.
Jim Durkin first served in the Illinois House in 1995 as State Representative of the 44th District, before leaving to seek higher office as the Republican nominee for United States Senate in 2002. He returned to the Illinois House in 2006 as State Representative of the 82nd House District. Jim served as the ranking Republican on the Illinois House of Representatives Special Investigation Committee for the impeachment of Governor Blagojevich, and served as the House Manager for the removal of a sitting member of the Illinois House of Representatives. In August of 2013, Jim was unanimously selected by his Republican peers to fill the vacancy of House Republican Leader and was officially inaugurated by the full House of Representatives on October 22, 2013.
Jim currently resides in Western Springs with his family.