Longtime Californa Senator Dianne Feinstein Won't Seek Re-Election

By Tom Joyce | Center Square contributor, The Center Square California

February 14, 2023

(The Center Square) - U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, will not seek re-election next year.

Feinstein, 89, announced the news on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.

“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 tweeted. “Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will improve lives.”

Had Feinstein sought re-election, she would have been challenged by multiple Democrats. U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-California, and U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, have both announced runs for the position.

Under California's jungle primary system, she could have faced another Democratic candidate in the general election had she run for re-election. Every candidate runs in a single jungle primary, and the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.

Feinstein defeated then-State Senator Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, in her 2018 re-election bid. Feinstein got 54.2% of the vote, while de Leon got 45.8%.

In recent years, the media has questioned Feinstein's cognitive ability as she ages. Progressives in the Democratic Party have also expressed frustration with her opposition to the Green New Deal and for not embracing Medicare-for-All.

Feinstein was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992 and is currently its oldest active member.

The focus of the work of The Center Square California is state and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility.