It's the end of an era in the Chicago area and in Washington, D.C., as Democratic Congressman Danny Davis (D-Illinois) announced Thursday he's not running for another term in 2026, after serving nearly 30 years in Congress.

It felt like the beginning of a goodbye tour as Davis announced he'll be retiring at the end of his term next year, and endorsed Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) to take his seat in Congress.

"Yeah, the road has not always been the easiest, but I tell you I've had so much fun doing this job, I would do it for nothing," Davis said.

At age 83, only eight of the 435 members of the House of Representatives are older than Davis.

Surrounded by family, friends, and supporters, Davis reflected on his life and legacy that began on the cotton fields in Arkansas.

"The hands that picked cotton ended up with a mind picking presidents. I've known five of them," he said. "We've been fortunate. We've built schools. We've brought billions of dollars, not millions."

Davis said he hopes to be remembered "as one who tried to educate the constituents, educate the community, to know that they can have voice, they can have presence, and they can help make decisions."

The congressman said he only has one regret. He wished he'd run for public office sooner.

The road to politics started in 1979 for Davis, when he first became a member of the Chicago City Council, representing the 29th Ward on the West Side for 11 years.

In 1990, he waged his first successful campaign for the Cook County Board of Commissioners. After winning a second term in 1994, in 1996 he ran for Congress, winning the 7th District seat vacated by Cardiss Collins, who he had unsuccessfully challenged twice in the 1980s.

Davis would go on to win 14 more terms in Congress, and when he retires at the end of his current term, he will have served 30 years in Washington.

Davis said not much will change for him when he says goodbye to elected politics for good, as he plans to continue making an impact on his community.

"There also comes a time when one decides that there are new avenues, new approaches, new opportunities, new needs," he said.

Davis will continue to serve until January 2027, when he'll be 85. He said he's looking forward to sleeping in a little later. He also said he just bought a new rocking chair, and would like to spend some time in it watching cowboy movies, his favorite genre.

Longtime Davis supporter Renell Perry said she shed tears with Davis' announcement of his retirement, because she's been with him since the beginning, volunteering on Davis first campaign for alderman in the late 70s.

"I think I was maybe 14 or 15 years old, and so that was one of my first political campaigns that I ever worked on, and the congressman has been the people's congressman from the day he took office," she said. "He truly has served his community tirelessly. It doesn't matter whether you are that person that's homeless on the street, or if you're a board president, he has treated everybody with the same kindness."

Davis' retirement next year is part of a tidal wave of change happening for the Illinois congressional delegation.

In addition to Davis stepping down, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) also is retiring after her current term. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) and Congresswoman Robin Kelly Davis (D-Illinois) are giving up their seats in the House so that they can run for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois).

In addition to Ford running for Davis' seat, Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin, Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins, businessman Jason Friedman, and Marine Corps veteran John McCombs also have said they are joining the race.

Recently retired Ald. Walter Burnett Jr and Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner also could enter the race, though Burnett is also on Mayor Brandon Johnson's list of possible replacements for the CEO at the Chicago Housing Authority.