His older brother Angelo was launched on a prestigious career through the cursus honorum of the Republic of Venice, but Domenico had to make do with a marriage to Pauline Tron.

The couple had one son, Giulio Contarini (1611–1676) (who would eventually rise to the position of procurator of San Marco), and five daughters (Chiara, Maddalena, Laura, and two others who became nuns).

In 1627–1628, Venice was bitterly divided into factions, one of which was led by Doge Giovanni I Cornaro, who sought to create a power bloc for the Cornaro family in Venice, and the other of which was led by Renier Zeno, one of the Capi of the Council of Ten, who opposed this.

According to the custom of the Republic of Venice, the Doge was elected by a group of 41 electors, chosen basically at random.

The Cretan War (1645–1669), an attempt to recapture Crete from the Ottoman Empire, had been ongoing for ten years at this point, and these noblemen believed that a young, martial leader was needed, not a septuagenarian like Contarini.

Domenico Contarini was widely praised in these years for his poise, and the nobility of his spirit, in carrying on the fight.

Morosini faced charges of cowardice on his return to Venice, but, after a brief trial, he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Shortly after the ending of the war, Contarini's grandson Angelo (named after his late brother) married Elena Nani, and the young couple gave birth to a son, Giulio Felice, who was baptized in 1671.

Contarini spent the last year and a half of his life bedridden, and finally died on January 26, 1675, at the age of 89.