What Dianne Feinstein’s Announcement Means for California

For generations, Dianne Feinstein has been an iconic American political figure.

She was born in San Francisco in 1933, the same year construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge. She was the first female mayor of the City by the Bay; a longtime Democratic power broker who pushed for environmental protections and gun control; and the longest serving senator ever to represent California.

On Tuesday, Feinstein, 89, announced she would not seek re-election to the Senate next year but would finish out her term, which ends in 2024. Speaking to reporters, she explained her decision this way: “There are times for all things under the sun, and I think that will be the right time.”

To mark her announcement, The New York Times published a guide to nine key moments in Feinstein’s career, including her 1992 victory to become California’s first female senator and her role in the 2020 Supreme Court hearings for Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Though critics have questioned her fitness for office in recent years, friends said she made the decision to end this chapter of her career on her own timetable.

“She has a level of integrity that’s unusual — she really thinks about the merits, more than most,” Jerry Brown, California’s former governor, told my colleague Shawn Hubler. “She gives her all to the job. And I think it has been difficult for her to come to the end.”

Feinstein’s announcement clears the way for what is expected to be a costly and competitive race for the seat she has held for three decades. (California’s other Senate seat is filled by Alex Padilla, who was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to replace Vice President Kamala Harris and then won re-election in November.)

The Republican field isn’t yet clear, but even before this week, some Democrats had already announced that they would be running for Feinstein’s seat in 2024.

Representative Katie Porter, who flipped a previously Republican district in Orange County in 2018, was the first to announce her campaign last month. Representative Adam B. Schiff, the manager of President Donald J. Trump’s first impeachment trial, who represents an eastern swath of the Los Angeles region, entered the race a couple of weeks later. Representative Barbara Lee, a progressive stalwart from Oakland who was the sole lawmaker in Congress to vote against invading Afghanistan, is expected to announce her candidacy before the end of the month.

As my colleague Jazmine Ulloa writes, the race raises urgent questions for California Democrats: Whose moment is it? In which direction should the party head?

Porter, Schiff and Lee would all be further left than Feinstein. And Schiff, 62, or Porter, 49, would represent a long-awaited break in a generational logjam, as well as a change in regional power. Until recently, the state’s most powerful politicians have typically emerged from the Bay Area.

But given California’s demographic shifts, some Democrats believe the state’s next senator should also capture its growing racial and ethnic diversity. Lee is Black, and there are currently no Black women in the Senate. Only two — Harris and Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois — have ever served in the chamber’s 250-year history.

Feinstein said Tuesday she would hold off on issuing any endorsement in the race, at least for a few months.

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What we’re eating

Easy chicken recipes for busy weeknights.

Where we’re traveling

Today’s tip comes from J.H. Carvala:

“Our family enjoys the wonderful views when we’re at the Presidio’s scenic overlooks. Depending on the overlook, views include Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate Bridge’s towers and its vehicle traffic lanes, Downtown San Francisco skyline, Alcatraz, Angel Island, Golden Gate Strait, Seacliff and other San Francisco districts. The new Presidio Tunnel Tops’ special outlook area called the Cliff Walk has views encompassing from the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz, including the tunnel Top’s Outpost Play Space (large playground) below the Cliff Walk.

The Presidio is a national park, i.e., transformed former U.S.A. army post, spanning an approximate two-mile by one-mile northwest corner of San Francisco. The scenic overlooks are scattered throughout the Presidio — south, east, north, west, and central areas — and come in different sizes.

Some of our favorite overlooks include: Immigrant Point, Pacific, Crissy Field, Golden Gate, as well as Tunnel Top Cliff Walk.”

Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We’ll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

And before you go, some good news

One place in California made Travel & Leisure’s list of 50 places to visit around the world in 2023: San Luis Obispo County.