Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced today that she will not run for reelection next year. Feinstein is California’s longest-serving senator, and the country’s longest-serving female senator. She plans to remain in office through the end of 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 her announcement.
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. Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will improve lives.
— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) February 14, 2023
Feinstein is the oldest senator at 89 years old.
Democratic Reps. Katie Porter of Irvine and Adam B. Schiff of Burbank have launched rival Senate campaigns in recent weeks and another Democrat, Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, is expected to run a campaign as well.
During her time as Senator, Feinstein enacted the nation’s only assault weapons ban and released documentation of the CIA’s use of torture despite strong pushback from the intelligence community. For five years she battled the George W. Bush administration, the Obama administration, and the intelligence community, pushing them to release a declassified summary of the CIA’s 6,700-page report on its enhanced interrogation techniques. Once the report was finally made public, Feinstein released it in late 2014, saying the CIA had engaged in activities that were “a stain on our values and our history.”
“I campaigned in 2018 on several priorities for California and the nation: preventing and combating wildfires, mitigating the effects of record-setting drought, responding to the homelessness crisis and ensuring all Americans have access to affordable, high-quality healthcare,” she said in her statement.
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