Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced Tuesday that she won’t run for reelection in 2024, clearing the field for a younger generation of leaders.
Feinstein, 89, will remain in office until her term concludes at the end of next year. Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff have already announced they would run for her seat before she officially announced her retirement, and House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said she would support Schiff if Feinstein retired.
“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 Tuesday.
Feinstein said she remains focused on preventing and combatting wildfires, addressing droughts, responding to the homelessness crisis, ensuring health care access and addressing gun violence.
Feinstein, who has served California in the U.S. Senate for three decades, was most recently reelected in 2018. She is the oldest current U.S. senator, and the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history.
Photographer: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will improve lives,” Feinstein said. “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. My thanks to the people of California for allowing me to serve them.”
Feinstein’s retirement announcement comes amid stories citing unnamed Democratic colleagues questioning whether the 89-year-old has the mental fitness to continue to serve. After one such article in the San Francisco Chronicle last year, Feinstein issued a statement saying she is “an effective representative for 40 million Californians, and the record shows that I am.”
Last year, Feinstein told the Washington Post she would decline to run for Senate president pro tempore, then the next month, appeared to forget that she had declined the opportunity.
In her 30 years in the Senate, Feinstein has served on the Senate Intelligence Committee, fought for LGBTQ+ rights and the legalization of gay marriage, and focused on improving the Golden State’s water infrastructure.
