Death has been announced of Dianne Feinstein, longest-serving female US senator in history,at 90.
Senator Feinstein died following months of declining health.
Feinstein, a Democrat, died Thursday night at her home in Washington, her office said in a statement.
CNN reports that Dianne Feinstein’s death whose three decades in the Senate made her the longest-serving female US senator in history comes as federal funding is set to expire.
Feinstein, who was the Senate’s oldest member at the time of her death, also faced questions about her mental acuity and ability to lead.
She dismissed the concerns, saying, “The real question is whether I’m still an effective representative for 40 million Californians, and the record shows that I am.”
Feinstein was born in San Francisco in 1933 and graduated from Stanford University in 1955.
After serving as a San Francisco County supervisor, Feinstein became the city’s mayor in 1978 in the wake of the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician from California to be elected to office.
Her death hands California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom the power to appoint a lawmaker to serve out the rest of Feinstein’s term, keeping the Democratic majority in the chamber through early January 2025,” CNN said.
Newsom has publicly pledged to appoint a Black woman if Feinstein were to vacate her office and told NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this month that he would make an “interim appointment” who wouldn’t be any of the candidates who are seeking the seat in next year’s election.
Feinstein, a former mayor of San Francisco, was a leading figure in California politics for decades and became a national face of the Democratic Party following her first election to the US Senate in 1992.