Longest serving senator
US Senator Dianne Feinstein dies at 90
Dianne Feinstein was first elected to the Senate in 1992
© Drew Angerer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
Dianne Feinstein, the oldest politician in the US Senate, has died at the age of 90. The Democrat has recently repeatedly struggled with her health.
Feinstein, who was born in San Francisco, California, was first elected to the Senate in 1992 and enjoyed great recognition across party lines. In the Congressional Chamber, she was in charge of hundreds of bills and chaired the powerful Intelligence Committee for years.
In 1994, she wrote a law banning semi-automatic rifles. She also produced a 6,700-page report on the CIA’s secret torture program during the “War on Terror.”
Fight against lax gun laws
One of Feinstein’s main concerns was the fight against lax gun laws in the USA. Before her election to the Senate, she became mayor of San Francisco in 1978, among other things, after her predecessor George Moscone and gay rights activist Harvey Milk were shot in City Hall.
Feinstein was elected to the Senate in 1992, becoming the first woman from California. She became the longest-serving senator in history there.
The Democrats have a very narrow majority of 51 of the 100 seats in the Senate. After Feinstein’s death, the governor of California, Democrat Gavin Newsom, can appoint a successor.