Sen. Dianne Feinstein announces retirement
Feinstein’s departure opens the door for a competitive primary for her seat

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, on Sept. 13, 2022. Photo by Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced Tuesday she will not seek reelection in 2024.
Feinstein, a California Democrat, is the oldest sitting member of Congress and the longest-serving U.S. senator from her state. At 89, she has faced rising pressure to cede her seat in recent years.
A number of other California Democrats, including Rep. Adam Schiff, launched bids for the seat before Feinstein confirmed her plans to step back.
“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. She assumed office after a special election in November 1992.
Feinstein’s grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. She was born and raised in San Francisco and was the only Jewish student at an elite Roman Catholic high school. Her political career has been full of firsts: She was the first female mayor of her hometown; the first female candidate for California governor; and the first female Jewish U.S. senator. In 1993, she and former Sen. Barbara Boxer became the first pair of female senators to represent any one state.
Feinstein previously resisted calls to step down. Her departure opens the door for a competitive Democratic primary next year. Schiff, who is Jewish, and Rep. Katie Porter, a second-term congresswoman from Orange County, have already announced their senatorial campaigns. Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland is also expected to join the contest.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.