Longest-serving female US senator in history dies at 90

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the oldest serving member of the US Senate and longest serving female senator, died on Friday at age 90, a source told Axios.

Report informs via Axios that Feinstein's death, first reported by Punchbowl News and confirmed by several other outlets, including the New York Times and AP, marks the end of a distinguished senatorial career.

The six-term senator announced in February that she would not seek re-election in 2024 amid deteriorating health.

Feinstein returned to the Senate in May after a more than two-month absence following her hospitalization for shingles in March.

Several prominent House Democrats are running to succeed her, though California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he would pick an "interim" appointment to the seat if it became vacant.

Born in 1933, Feinstein was the first female president of the San Fransisco Board of Supervisors, the first female mayor of San Fransisco and first female U.S. senator from California.

Feinstein rose to national prominence in the late 1970s as a San Francisco supervisor, becoming mayor after the murders of Mayor George Moscone and fellow supervisor Harvey Milk, an iconic LGBTQ+ rights figure.

She lost a bid for California governor in 1990 but won election to the Senate in 1992, authoring the 1994 assault weapons ban and, as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, leading a sweeping investigation into the CIA's post-9/11 torture program.

She is survived by her daughter, Katherine Feinstein, and her granddaughter, Eileen Feinstein Mariano.