(TheRedAlertNews.com) – Democrat US Senator from California, Dianne Feinstein, 89, the oldest member of the US Senate, has finally announced that she would retire after completing her sixth term in 2024.
“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 stated in her announcement, as cited by The National Review.
Feinstein became a member of the US Senate in 1992 as the first female senator from California. She was reelected five times. In 2012, she was reelected with 7.86 million votes, the highest popular vote in any US Senate election.
Before becoming a United States senator, Feinstein was San Francisco’s mayor for ten years and, in 1990, lost California’s gubernatorial election.
In her statement, the 89-year-old senator wrote she would dedicate the rest of her term to legislative projects benefiting her home state.
“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,” Feinstein declared.
In recent years, the senior US senator from California has been revealed to suffer from possible mental decline and memory problems.
“Many others familiar with Feinstein’s situation describe her as seriously struggling and say it has been evident for several years,” The New Yorker wrote in a December 2020 report.
“Speaking on background, and with respect for her accomplished career, they say her short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have. They describe Feinstein as forgetting what she has said and getting upset when she can’t keep up,” the report informed.
In the past few years, Feinstein has infuriated many in the Democratic Party, especially during the confirmation hearings of conservative Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Feinstein expressed doubts about the credibility of Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh’s sexual assault accuser, but later backtracked.
In 2020, she publically expressed gratitude to GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, then-Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, for Barrett’s “smooth hearing.”
“This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in,” the elderly US Senator from California said at the time.
As Feinstein’s decision to retire was widely anticipated among California’s Democrats, a race to succeed her has already started.
Two Democrat members of the US House of Representatives, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, recently announced they will run for Senate if Feinstein retires. A third one, Barbara Lee, is also expected to vie for Feinstein’s Senate seat.
What is your opinion? Do you believe Feinstein should’ve retired from the Senate before now? Why or why not? Please share your thoughts by emailing [email protected]. Thank you.
