List of United States senators from Illinois
Senator Term of office Date of birth ( and age )
Adlai Stevenson III November 17 , 1970 - January 3 , 1981 ( 1930-10-10 ) October 10 , 1930 ( age 89 )
Carol Moseley Braun January 3 , 1993 - January 3 , 1999 ( 1947-08-16 ) August 16 , 1947 ( age 72 )
Peter Fitzgerald January 3 , 1999 - January 3 , 2005 ( 1960-10-20 ) October 20 , 1960 ( age 59 )
Barack Obama January 3 , 2005 - November 16 , 2008 ( 1961-08-04 ) August 4 , 1961 ( age 58 )
Roland Burris January 12 , 2009 - November 29 , 2010 ( 1937-08-03 ) August 3 , 1937 ( age 82 )
Mark Kirk November 29 , 2010 - January 3 , 2017 ( 1959-09-15 ) September 15 , 1959 ( age 60 )
Living former senators
As of June 2020 [ update ] , there are six living former senators from Illinois . The most recent senator to die was Alan J. Dixon ( served 1981–1993 ) on July 6 , 2014 . The most recently serving senator to die was Paul Simon ( served 1985–1997 ) on December 9 , 2003 .
Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, and has been represented in the United States Senate by 47 senators. Senators from Illinois are elected to Class 2 and Class 3. The Senate twice refused to seat Frank L. Smith, in December 1926 for an appointed term and in March 1927 for an elected one, due to corruption, but he is included in this list because Smith and the Governor considered him to be a senator for approximately two years. Of the eight African Americans ever to sit in the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction, three have held Illinois's Class 3 seat, including Barack Obama who went on to become the President of the United States. This makes Illinois the state with the most African-American senators. Illinois's current U.S. senators are Democrats Dick Durbin (serving since 1997) and Tammy Duckworth (serving since 2017).