Soon to turn 84, Feinstein eyes 5th term
LOS ANGELES — California’s Dianne Feinstein turns 84 on Thursday and is displaying signs that she’s headed for a re-election campaign, not a retirement party.
While the Democrat, the nation’s oldest U.S. senator, has been coy when asked about seeking a fifth full term next year, her political committee, titled Feinstein for Senate 2018, raised more than $650,000 in the first three months of this year.
Feinstein plays a marquee role for Democrats on Capitol Hill, where she has queried Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former FBI Director James Comey about their interactions with President Donald Trump amid probes tied to Russian influence and the 2016 presidential campaign.
With another term in Washington, Feinstein could be in the Senate into her 90s.
She had a pacemaker installed in January, and a voter survey earlier this year suggested that her support could be dinged by her advancing years.
A former San Francisco mayor, Feinstein has long been among California’s most popular political figures, and she would be a strong favorite to keep the seat in a state where Democrats hold every statewide office and control both chambers of the Legislature.
But her centrist credentials and lack of enthusiasm for universal health care have made her a target within the party’s liberal wing.