
Newsom responds to Feinstein’s announcement that she will retire
Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California leaders paid tribute to Sen. Dianne Feinstein after her announcement Tuesday that she won’t seek re-election in 2024.
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Feinstein, a San Francisco native like the governor, has been “a powerful champion for California and California values on the national stage for three decades,” Newsom said in a statement.
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She was the first woman to serve as the Mayor of San Francisco, taking office after Dan White assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978.
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“A daughter of San Francisco…the tragic events of that day led to her lifetime crusade for common-sense gun control laws, including her role as author of a federal assault weapons ban,” Newsom said.
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“Throughout her career, Senator Feinstein has worked tirelessly across the aisle to advance tremendous progress on priorities that matter deeply to Americans.”
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Feinstein, who will turn 90 in June, is the oldest sitting member of the U.S. Senate and longest serving woman in Senate history. When Rep. Katie Porter (D-Orange County) announced her bid for Senate last month, Feinstein had yet to announce her retirement.
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“I will make an announcement concerning my plans for 2024 at the appropriate time,” Feinstein said in January.
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Feinstein “has had a remarkable career serving the people of California,” Porter said on Tuesday after Feinstein’s announcement.
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“She created a path for women in politics that I am proud to follow. I thank the Senator for her leadership and appreciate all that she has accomplished for our state.”
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Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Los Angeles), who announced his own run for Senate in January shortly after Porter, also expressed his gratitude to outgoing senator on Tuesday, calling her, “one of the finest legislators we’ve ever known.”
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Feinstein said she’ll “probably” make an endorsement for her successor at a later time.
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Sen. Alex Padilla, whom Newsom appointed to fill Vice President Kamala Harris’s Senate seat in 2021 and was elected to a full six-year term in last November’s election, was similarly gushing. He recalled that Feinstein hired him in one of his first jobs in politics “as a young MIT grad looking to make a difference in my community.”
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Feinstein hired him as an aide when he was in his twenties.
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“You can’t tell the story of California politics—or the story of American politics—without the trailblazing career of Dianne Feinstein,” Padilla wrote in a statement on Tuesday. He commended her for “breaking down barriers” in “the face of violence, stifling misogyny, and great personal loss.”
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San Francisco Bay Area legislators were, like Newsom, quick to celebrate Feinstein’s Bay Area roots.
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State Senator Scott Wiener, a San Francisco progressive Democrat, called Feinstein a “trailblazer for more than 50 years.”
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“We’re so proud of her in San Francisco & grateful for her service to our city & our state,” he wrote on Twitter.
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Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) called Feinstein “a champion for the Golden State.”
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“She broke barriers as the first woman to serve as Mayor of San Francisco,” Pelosi said. “And in a moment of horror and heartbreak, she offered our City poised, courageous and hopeful leadership.