(CN) — Longtime Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California said Tuesday she will not seek reelection in 2024, though she will finish out her term.
"I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends," Feinstein said in a statement. “Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will improve lives. Each of us was sent here to solve problems. That’s what I’ve done for the last 30 years, and that’s what I plan to do for the next two years."
Much of the political class in California had assumed Feinstein, now 89, would not run for another six-year term. Two Democratic Congress members — Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, both of Southern California — had already announced they would run to replace her, and many more are expected to join them.
Feinstein's political career started in 1969, when she was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors. She became the city's first female mayor in 1978, following the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. The incident made her a lifelong gun control supporter. She and Barbara Boxer were both elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, making California the first state to have two female senators.
Throughout her three decades in Washington, Feinstein took largely popular, centrist positions. She supported the 2002 invasion of Iraq, as well as the Patriot Act. By 2018, this had earned her the ire of many progressives in the state, and she was challenged for reelection by then-state Senate President pro tempore Kevin de Leon. Despite losing the endorsement of the state's Democratic Party in the open primary, she defeated de Leon fairly easily.
During the last few years, numerous questions have been raised about Feinstein's cognitive abilities, particularly her short-term memory. In 2022, The New York Times reported that such issues were an "open secret" in Washington, and she "struggles to recall the names of colleagues, frequently has little recollection of meetings or telephone conversations, and at times walks around in a state of befuddlement."
Feinstein is currently the oldest lawmaker in Washington, nearly three months older than Republican Senator Chuck Grassley. The record is currently held by South Carolina Senator (and former segregationist) Strom Thurmond, who was 100 years old when he retired in 2003. Assuming Feinstein does finish out her sixth term in office, she will rank fourth four on that all-time list.
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