‘A role model for many Americans’: politicians mourn Dianne Feinstein

Dianne Feinstein, the first woman to represent California in the US Senate who became the longest-serving female senator in history, “blazed trails for women in politics and found a life’s calling in public service”, Hillary Clinton said.

Related: Senator Dianne Feinstein, trailblazer for women in US politics, dies aged 90

The former New York senator and US secretary of state, who in 2016 was the first woman to win the presidential nomination of a major US party, paid tribute to her fellow Democrat along with many others from across the US shortly after the announcement of her death, at 90 and still in office.

Clinton added: “I’ll miss her greatly as a friend and colleague.”

From the White House, Joe Biden saluted “a pioneering American”.

The president added: “Serving in the Senate together for more than 15 years, I had a front-row seat to what Dianne was able to accomplish.

“Often the only woman in the room, Dianne was a role model for so many Americans … she had an immense impact on younger female leaders for whom she generously opened doors. Dianne was tough, sharp, always prepared, and never pulled a punch, but she was also a kind and loyal friend.”

Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, will select Feinstein’s replacement. Calling her “a political giant”, he said she “was many things – a powerful … US senator; an early voice for gun control; a leader in times of tragedy and chaos.

“But to me, she was a dear friend, a lifelong mentor, and a role model … for what a powerful, effective leader looks like.”

Feinstein’s “tenacity”, Newsom said, “was matched by her grace. She broke down barriers and glass ceilings, but never lost her belief in the spirit of political cooperation. And she was a fighter – for the city [San Francisco, where she was the first woman to be mayor], the state and the country she loved.”

There was discord among the praise. David Axelrod, formerly a senior adviser to Barack Obama, pointed to controversy over whether, given failing health and absences which affected Democratic Senate business, Feinstein should have retired.

“How sad that the final, painful years will eclipse in the memories of some a long and distinguished career,” Axelrod said⁩. “RIP, Senator Feinstein.”

Many cited a recent piece in New York magazine by the writer Rebecca Traister, about Feinstein’s declining years, which asked: “She fought for gun control, civil rights and abortion access for half a century. Where did it all go wrong?”

John Flannery, a federal prosecutor turned commentator, was among those with a rejoinder: “I hope some of those who hounded her in her dying days will remember her contributions.”

Many tributes highlighted Feinstein’s contributions to attempts to combat gun violence, a cause close to her heart after the assassination of George Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco, and Harvey Milk, another member of the board of supervisors, made her mayor of the city in 1978.

Though Feinstein “made her mark on everything from national security to the environment to protecting civil liberties”, Biden said, “there’s no better example of her skillful legislating and sheer force of will than when she turned passion into purpose, and led the fight to ban assault weapons”.

Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator from Connecticut and a leading voice for gun reform, said Feinstein would “go down as a heroic, historic American leader … an early and fearless champion of the gun safety movement as author of the monumental Assault Weapons Ban of 1994.

“For a long time, between 1994 and the tragedy in Newtown in 2012 [in which 20 young children and six adults were killed], Dianne was often a lonely but unwavering voice on the issue of gun violence.

“The modern anti-gun violence movement – now more powerful than the gun lobby – simply would not exist without Dianne’s moral leadership.”

From the US House, Maxwell Frost of Florida, a young congressional progressive, called Feinstein “a champion for gun violence prevention … we wouldn’t have had an assault weapons ban if it wasn’t for Senator Feinstein and due to her tireless work, we will win it back”.

As a government shutdown loomed, Feinstein’s desk in the Senate was draped in black cloth, a vase of white roses placed to mark her death.

From the other side of the political aisle, the Maine Republican senator Susan Collins called Feinstein “a strong and effective leader, and a good friend”. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican on the judiciary committee, called Feinstein “one of the most consequential senators in history [who] understood the give and take nature of politics and negotiation”.

Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic judiciary chair, said: “She never backed away from the toughest political battles – she was always dignified and always effective.”

The battle to succeed Feinstein has been heating up. The California congressman Adam Schiff leads polling and fundraising but Newsom has pledged to pick a Black woman to sit until the election next year.

Barbara Lee, a Black Democratic congresswoman running for the seat, said: “This is a sad day for California and the nation. Senator Feinstein was a champion for our state, and served as the voice of a political revolution for women.”

Among commentators, Mehdi Hasan of MSNBC highlighted what will to many prove a complicated political legacy.

“The high point and low point of … Feinstein’s long and storied career as a US senator both relate to the ‘war on terror’,” Hasan said. “Low point: voting for the Iraq invasion. High point: going against the CIA to expose their torture programme.”

In a similar vein, Christian F Nunes, national president of the National Organization for Women, or Now, said that while Feinstein’s “30-year career was not without controversy or criticism, her work on the Violence Against Women Act, gay marriage, gun control and a long list of legislation illustrates what can happen when women get elected to office.

“We hope her legacy inspires others to check women’s names on a ballot – or envision their own on one.”