See vintage photos from Dianne Feinstein’s political career in California
Nathaniel Levine
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death on Friday marked the end of a political career that spanned more than 50 years.
The state’s longest-serving senator and the nation’s longest-serving female senator started her political career on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, winning election in 1969.
The assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Councilman Harvey Milk by former Supervisor Dan White made her acting mayor of the city, and vaulted her into national prominence that led to a run for governor and eventually election to the U.S. Senate.
San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein sits in her office on Nov. 27, 1987. With her second term nearing an end and barred by the city charter from seeking a third, she is considered a potential candidate for governor.
Dianne Feinstein and Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy campaign in Old Sacramento on Nov. 4, 1990, during a seven-stop train trip up the Central Valley. It was Feinstein’s final push to become the state’s first female governor, but the trip did not win Sacramento County or the state for her. She lost to then Sen. Pete Wilson by 3.5 percentage points.
Then-San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein and Gray Davis, then chief of staff for Gov. Jerry Brown, survey an evacuation site at Golden Gate Park on April 18, 1980.
Dianne Feinstein, Democratic candidate for governor, talks with reporters Nov. 6, 1990, in San Francisco on her way to the polls. Her husband Richard Blum stands at right.
Interior secretary Donald Hodel and San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein talk at the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in October of 1987.
U.S. Senate Democratic candidates Dianne Feinstein (right) and Barbara Boxer at a get-out-the-vote rally on Nov. 2, 1992, a day before Election Day. Feinstein and Boxer, both from northern California, ran against two Republican men from Southern California.
Dianne Feinstein is interviewed by Time magazine correspondent Jordan Bonfante on a flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles on June 10, 1990, the day before she won the Democratic nomination for governor.
As California Gov. Pete Wilson stands at her side, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein speaks to members of the media in her Capitol Hill office. It was the first meeting between the two since Wilson defeated Feinstein in the 1990 gubernatorial race. Wilson was in town for the National Governor’s Association winter meeting and to lobby for federal aid for California’s immigrant population.
Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Dianne Feinstein is greeted by capital developer Angelo Tsakopoulos and his nephew Sotiris Kolokotronis on June 4, 1992, as she and fellow Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Barbara Boxer arrive at Sacramento Metropolitan Airport.
Senator-elect Dianne Feinstein acknowledges cheers from the jubilant crowd at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1992. “Ready or not, Washington, here we come,” she said, referring to her and Barbara Boxer’s dual Senate win.
Dianne Feinstein, left, and Barbara Boxer raise their hands in victory during an appearance at the airport in Burbank on June 3, 1992. The two women won election to the U.S. Senate several months later. Feinstein, who served in the Senate for 30 years, died Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, at the age of 90.
Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, center, join Gov. Gray Davis in a labor rally at the Teamsters hall in Oakland on Oct. 4, 2003. The rally was part of Governor Davis’ ”Just Say No” campaign tour against the recall campaign. Rev. Jesse Jackson stands at right.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein speaks to the media after a meeting at Sacramento City Hall with city officials, including Mayor Joe Serna, left, and Councilman Steve Cohn, right, and community leaders on Aug. 10, 1999, to discuss hate crimes, gun legislation and related issues.
Sen. Diane Feinstein, left, and Giants owner Bill Neukom ride in a vintage car as the the San Francisco Giants celebrate their World Series win with a parade down Market Street in San Francisco on Nov. 3, 2010.
California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer wave to the state delegation at the Democratic Convention in Boston on Monday, July 26, 2004. The two were among the nine female U.S. Senators that were honored during a ceremony on the floor of the convention.
