by Sharon Rondeau
(Sep. 29, 2023) — Shortly before 9:00 a.m. EDT Friday, Fox News and other outlets reported the death of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. She was 90.
With a lifetime in politics, Feinstein had announced earlier this year she would not seek re-election in 2024 to what would have been a seventh term in the upper chamber of Congress.
First elected in a 1992 special election, Feinstein was the first woman to represent California in the U.S. Senate and the longest-serving woman in that body.
Feinstein served three terms as mayor of San Francisco, her home city.
Following a lengthy absence from the Senate for shingles, in recent months Feinstein’s health appeared to have been declining, as she was seen in a wheelchair and required assistance to cast votes.
In April 2022, CNN reported that “Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein defended her position as senior senator representing California following a news report published Thursday that lawmakers she serves with are concerned about her memory and ability to serve in the Senate.”
In a statement, she maintained she remained an “effective representative for 40 million Californians” despite CNN’s cited contemporaneous report from the San Francisco Chronicle stating “a California Democrat in Congress recently engaged in an extended conversation with Sen. Dianne Feinstein,” and “had to reintroduce themselves to Feinstein multiple times during an interaction that lasted several hours.”
“The episode was so unnerving that the lawmaker — who spoke to The Chronicle on condition they not be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic — began raising concerns with colleagues to see if some kind of intervention to persuade Feinstein to retire was possible,” the Chronicle article continued. “Feinstein’s term runs through the end of 2024. The conversation occurred several weeks before the death of her husband in February.”
Though supporting more “progressive” causes over the years, Feinstein was known as a “centrist” who tried to find commonality with Republicans.
Feinstein cast her last vote on Thursday morning, NBC News reported, “but missed two votes on Thursday afternoon.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to appoint Feinstein’s replacement, who will serve the remainder of her term but not be a contender for her seat.
God rest her soul.