DEVELOPING STORY: Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has died. She was 90-years-old and had been in frail health for quite some time.
ABC7 in San Francisco has confirmed the congresswoman’s death. She had been California’s longest-serving senator.
“Dianne Feinstein, right from the start, was an icon for women in politics,” said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The New York Times reports that Feinstein’s staff was being informed at 9 a.m. eastern.
Her career was one of many firsts. She was the first woman president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the first woman mayor of San Francisco, and one of two of the first women elected to the U.S. Senate from California.
“Dianne Feinstein, right from the start, was an icon for women in politics,” said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Senator Chuck Schumer adds, “She’s a legend. A legend in California as the first woman senator. A legend in the Senate. She was the leader on so many different issues.”
Born Dianne Goldman in San Francisco on June 22, 1933, she was raised by a Russian Orthodox mother and Jewish father. She worshipped at Temple Emanuel Synagogue and graduated from San Francisco’s Convent of the Sacred Heart, a Roman Catholic all girls’ high school. She was in the glee club, ballet, camera club and athletics.
Feinstein went on to study at Stanford University where she graduated in 1955 and was later married three times.
ABC7
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Feinstein’s death will have major political implications and could set up a change in leadership within the Biden Administration.
There have been rumblings that Vice President Kamala Harris could be appointed to fill the Feinstein seat in the U.S. Senate. That would give President Biden an opportunity to select either California Gov. Gavin Newsom or former First Lady Michelle Obama or even former First Lady Hillary Clinton as vice president.
