On July 27, 2018, reports surfaced that a Chinese staff member who worked as Feinstein's personal driver, gofer and liaison to the Asian-American community for 20 years, was caught reporting to China's Ministry of State Security. [12] Her 347-page financial-disclosure statement[13] characterized by the San Francisco Chronicle as "nearly the size of a phone book" draws clear lines between her assets and those of her husband, with many of her assets in blind trusts.[14]. candidate Pete Wilson (1933). 1 2 2.1 2.2 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 4 5 . In March 2021, she became the longest-serving U.S. senator from California, surpassing Hiram Johnson. [59], Feinstein has supported the Affordable Care Act, repeatedly voting to defeat initiatives aimed against it. In the 1980 presidential election, while a majority of Bay Area Democrats continued to support Senator Ted Kennedy's primary challenge to President Jimmy Carter even after it was clear Kennedy could not win, Feinstein was a strong supporter of the CarterMondale ticket. Feinstein was born Dianne Emiel Goldman in San Francisco to Leon Goldman, a surgeon, and his wife Betty (ne Rosenburg), a former model. Their daughter, Katherine Feinstein Mariano (b. Her paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland. religions. [100] The EARN IT act effectively outlaws end-to-end encryption, depriving the world of secure, private communications tools. These subsidies had resulted in an annual expenditure of $6 billion. "[74], On July 12, 2009, Feinstein stated her belief that the Senate would confirm Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, praising her for her experience and for overcoming "adversity and disadvantage". President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors[edit] In 1969, Feinstein was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She served as the board's first female president in 1978, during which time the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk drew national attention to the city. Astrological Sign: Cancer, Article Title: Dianne Feinstein Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/political-figures/dianne-feinstein, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: March 29, 2021, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014. 1957), was the presiding judge of the San Francisco Superior Court for 12 years, through 2012. She With Patrick Leahy's retirement, she became the seniormost Senate Democrat on January 3, 2023. [33], In June 2013 Feinstein labeled Edward Snowden a traitor after his leaks went public. In 2012, Feinstein claimed the record for the most popular votes in any U.S. Senate election in history, having received 7.75 million votes. [135] She is the first woman to have presided over a U.S. presidential inauguration. outspoken against the decision of President Bill Clinton (1946) That same year, Feinstein also spearheaded legislation banning the manufacture, sale and possession of military-style assault weapons, which was signed into law on September 13, 1994. She was given a high profile speaking role on the opening night of the August Democratic National Convention, urging delegates to reject the Kennedy delegates' proposal to "open" the convention, thereby allowing delegates to ignore their states' popular vote, a proposal that was soundly defeated. While they were of German-Jewish ancestry, they practiced the Russian Orthodox (Christian) faith, as was required for Jews in Saint Petersburg. She appears again briefly in archival footage, announcing the death of Moscone and Milk in the 2008 film Milk. In October 2017, Feinstein declared her intention to run for reelection in 2018. [105], Feinstein has opposed a number of reforms to cannabis laws at the state and federal level. never been more than two serving at any given time. The polarizing 62-year-old will face fellow Reps. Katie Porter, 49, Barbara Lee, 76, and potentially incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 89, in the Democratic primary. Richard Blum, husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a longtime University of California regent and a stalwart of Democratic politics in California, died Sunday of cancer -1994, 2000, 2006, 2012 -2018. Feinstein in 2010, as she hosted an event at her home attended by 5 members of the U.S. Senate See also: United States Senate special election in California, 1992 See also: United States Senate election in California, 2012 On November 3, 1992, Feinstein won a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated a year earlier when Senator Pete Wilson resigned to become governor. United States, she proposed a law in 1998 to limit the access of , , , . Because Feinstein was elected to an unexpired term, she became a senator as soon as the election was certified in November while Boxer would not take office until the expiration of Cranston's term in January; thus Feinstein became California's senior senator, even though she was elected at the same time as Boxer and Boxer had previous congressional service. [77] Feinstein formally announced her opposition to his nomination on April 3, citing Gorsuch's "record at the Department of Justice, his tenure on the bench, his appearance before the Senate and his written questions for the record". Brondfield, Jerome. Personal life[edit] Feinstein graduated from Convent of the Sacred Heart High School (California) in 1951 and from Stanford University in 1955 with a B.A. Boxer (1940), Feinstein was elected to the Senate in 1992; the Barbara Boxer was elected at the same time for the Senate seat to be vacated by Alan Cranston. However, once Barack Obama became the presumptive nominee for the party, she fully backed his candidacy. At the age of 80, Feinstein is the oldest currently serving United States Senator. However, half an hour before the press conference on on to work for California's Industrial Welfare Commission and was Feinstein announced her husbands death in a statement Monday morning that said her heart is broken today.. [121][122] According to the reports, the FBI contacted Feinstein five years earlier warning her about the employee. "[118], Feinstein supports a conciliatory approach between China and Taiwan and fostered increased dialogue between high-level Chinese representatives and U.S. senators during her first term as senator. MORISSA ZUCKERMAN : And were asking you to be brave and do this for us and for your grandchildren. Dianne Feinstein was elected San Francisco's first female mayor in She has voted against the Paul Ryan Budget's Medicare choice, tax and spending cuts; and allowing tribal Indians to opt out of federal healthcare. The Senate passed the amendment on June 16, 2011. . They said the information gathered by intelligence on the phone communications is used to connect phone lines to terrorists and that it did not contain the content of the phone calls or messages. New York: Morrow, 2000. , FISA. in 1996, Feinstein shared the floor with eight fellow women senators, [17] While they were of German-Jewish ancestry,[18] they practiced the Russian Orthodox (Christian) faith, as was required for Jews in Saint Petersburg. Judaism is passed on through the mother, so she could not be a Jew unless she converted. [69], Feinstein co-sponsored (with Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn) an amendment through the Senate to the Economic Development Revitalization Act of 2011 that eliminated the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit. A Quinnipiac University poll revealed the voters in California do not think Governor Gavin Newsom should run for president in 2024. all representing a wide range of viewpoints. She said there was no cause for concern and that she had no plans to leave the Senate. recall movement gathered many signatures, Mayor Feinstein survived the Mayor of San Francisco[edit] Main article: Mayoralty of Dianne Feinstein. [26][27] She remained on the board for nine years. On November 27, 1978, San Francisco mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by a rival politician, Dan White, who had resigned from the Board of Supervisors only two weeks prior. The only path forward is a transparent process that allows every senator to bring their ideas to the table. senators from California. [21] [87], Following her 2012 vote to extend the Patriot Act and the FISA provisions,[59] and after the 2013 mass surveillance disclosures involving the National Security Agency (NSA), Feinstein promoted and supported measures to continue the information collection programs. Russian-American mother, Betty Rosenburg Goldman. "[115], During a July 2017 appearance on Face the Nation after North Korea conducted a second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, Feinstein said the country had proven itself a danger to the U.S. She also expressed her disappointment with China's lack of response. Richard Blum, the longtime husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, died Sunday evening following a battle with cancer, the senator announced Monday. [28] The group later shot out the windows of a beach house she owned.[29]. she wore after losing a bet with the contractor. Mother of Private Feb. 15, 2023. She and Berman divorced three years later. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. She married Jack Berman (d. 2002), who was then working in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, in 1956. (Jeff Chiu / She introduced a new assault weapons bill in 2013 that failed to pass. (: Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein); -22 1933 , , 1992. Feinstein was the first woman member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the first woman to chair the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. [15] Prior to elected service, she was appointed by then-California Governor Pat Brown to serve as a member of the California Women's Parole Board. " ", -17 2006 . [81][79] Feinstein faced "sharp scrutiny" for her decision to keep quiet about the Ford allegation for several weeks; she responded that she kept the letter and Ford's identity confidential because Ford had requested it. [6][7] Her mother also had either German or Jewish ancestry.[7][8]. [43] She lost the endorsement of the California Democratic Party's executive board, which opted to support State Senator Kevin de Len,[44] but finished first in the state's "jungle primary" and was reelected in the November 6 general election.[45]. In 1992, when she -1933 , , , , , , . -1992, 190,000 [1]. In January 2021, Feinstein filed the initial Federal Election Commission paperwork needed to seek reelection in 2024, when she will be 91. Along with She also seemingly had the respect of President Donald Trump and other Republican lawmakers, enhancing her across-the-aisle credentials, though it remained to be seen if that would be a detriment as the state's Democratic leadership tacked further left. [123] No criminal charges were filed against them. Her communications director issued a statement that this was due to election law technicalities, and was not indicative of her intentions in 2024. In mid-March, she sent Gorsuch a letter stating her request had not been met. 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