Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the longest-tenured female senator, has died, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to the Washington Examiner. She was 90.
The longest-tenured female senator broke many records with her lengthy and monumental political career. Feinstein is the only woman to lead the Senate Rules Committee and the Intelligence Committee. The California Democrat is also the only woman to have presided over a U.S. presidential inauguration.
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The former San Francisco mayor headed to the Senate in 1992 in a special election that made her one of California's first female senators. She was reelected five times, and received the most popular votes in U.S. Senate election history in 2012, winning 7.75 million votes.
Feinstein's career began in state politics, serving as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and later mayor in 1978. From there, she moved to the U.S. Senate and chaired numerous committees, notably as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
She was also one of the wealthiest members of the chamber, with a net worth estimated at approximately $94 million.
The incumbent made several headlines in 2018 amid the controversial nomination and confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Feinstein was the senator who received the letter from Christine Blasey Ford alleging Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 1980s. She faced sharp scrutiny for keeping the letter quiet for multiple weeks, referring it to the FBI only a short time before Kavanaugh's confirmation.
"The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh shifts the Supreme Court far to the right, putting women's reproductive rights, civil rights, environmental protections, worker's rights, the ability to implement gun safety rules and the ability to hold presidents accountable at risk for a generation," Feinstein said in a statement shortly after Kavanaugh's confirmation.
Her significant political actions include authoring the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban and authorizing the use of military force in Iraq in 2002. She endorsed Barack Obama's bid for the presidency in 2008, signed onto a letter endorsing Hillary Clinton in 2016, and voiced her support for 2020 presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden early over Kamala Harris, her fellow California senator who would later decide to seek the Democratic nomination for president.
"Joe was the chairman of the Judiciary when he came to this place," Feinstein told Politico. "I've seen him operate, I've seen him perform. He brings a level of experience and seniority which I think is really important."
Upon announcing her reelection in 2017, the same year she had an artificial cardiac pacemaker inserted, she highlighted her main goals for her next term in a tweet, saying, "I am running for reelection to the Senate. Lots more to do: ending gun violence, combating climate change, access to healthcare. I'm all in!"
I am running for reelection to the Senate. Lots more to do: ending gun violence, combating climate change, access to healthcare. I’m all in!
— Dianne Feinstein (@DianneFeinstein) October 9, 2017
Feinstein was born to Betty and Leon Goldman in San Francisco and graduated from Stanford University in 1955 with a history degree.
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The seasoned politician married three times, first to Jack Berman. The two divorced after a few years, and she remarried to neurosurgeon Bertram Feinstein, who died in 1978. She then married Richard Blum, an investment banker, in 1980.
She is survived by her husband and her daughter from her first marriage, Katherine Feinstein Mariano.
Emily Jacobs contributed to this report.