Dianne Feinstein, the senior senator from California, has announced that she will not seek reelection 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 said in a statement received by the Los Angeles Times.
At 89 years old, she is the oldest serving senator, and it was widely expected that she would not seek reelection — so much so that Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) have already launched campaigns to replace her in the U.S. Senate.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Feinstein was expecting to announce her intentions in the spring, but as Democrats began lining up to run for her seat, she was effectively pressured to announce her plans early… apparently earlier than she was aware. Not long after the announcement was released, she denied that she had decided to retire when asked by reporters.
“I haven’t made that decision. I haven’t released anything,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
That’s when a staffer informed her that a statement had already been released, which apparently the senator had not been told about. “You put out the statement? I should have known they put it out.”
Feinstein will leave behind a legacy marred by scandal. In 2018, it was revealed that her office in the Bay Area was infiltrated by a Chinese spy, and she came under significant criticism for sitting on bogus sexual assault allegations against now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh until after his confirmation hearings had concluded in order to thwart his nomination.
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