Feinstein’s retirement end to an era for California

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s announcement Tuesday that she will not run for reelection next year is no surprise. At 89, Feinstein is the oldest sitting senator and California’s longest-serving senator. She has earned retirement.

Nevertheless, it’s a loss for California and the country. Few elected leaders can match Feinstein’s record of achievement over the decades or her steadfast commitment to championing the causes most important to Californians: environmental protection, gun control and immigration reform, to name a few.

Feinstein was a trailblazer in California politics, forging a path for other women to win office. In 1969, she became the first woman elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She became acting mayor of San Francisco in 1978 after the murders of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk and went on to be elected as mayor, the first woman to do so.

In 1992, California elected its first two female senators, Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. When Boxer retired in 2016, Kamala Harris was elected to replace her.

We haven’t always agreed with Feinstein’s votes or priorities during her three decades in the Senate. But we’ve respected her approach to legislating. She is deliberate and detail-minded, willing to spend the years it takes to move complicated policy. Millions of acres of desert habitat, including the Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks, are protected today because Feinstein methodically pushed to ensure that California’s vast and underappreciated desert landscape is preserved for future generations.

With Feinstein’s exit, California will lose the seniority and ranking her tenure carries; Sen. Alex Padilla was appointed in 2021 and won his first U.S. Senate election in November.

The state is better for Feinstein’s service, but she is right to pass the torch to the next generation of California leaders.