Sen. Feinstein’s 2024 Fundraising Lags Amid Reviews of Memory Issues

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s fundraising numbers are lagging behind lawmakers who have accounts open and are trying to return to the Senate in 2024, a conspicuous difference as some colleagues question the 88-year-old’s ability to continue in office.

The California Democrat only reported raising about $176,000 since her last victory in 2018 in the most recent round of Federal Election Commission filings Friday. While fundraising for a Senate election tends to only become a priority toward the end of the six-year terms, Feinstein ranked 33rd out of 36 Senate candidates who have begun fundraising for the 2024 election cycle.

The top earners, including Sens. Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, Josh Hawley, Elizabeth Warren, and Kyrsten Sinema, are all national political figures. They’re either eyeing presidential runs or facing tough primaries. But even those gearing up for simple reelections have brought in over $1 million minimum.

Feinstein has not declared yet that she intends to run again, but she has filed reelection paperwork with the FEC to keep her fundraising accounts open. Feinstein was first elected to the Senate in 1992 after a long career in San Francisco politics, both as mayor and as a member of the Board of Supervisors. Feinstein’s current six-year term runs through Jan. 3, 2025.

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Feinstein, who will be 91 by Election Day, is trucking along despite growing concerns about her reported memory lapses. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday that several fellow senators and former staffers said her memory is “rapidly deteriorating,” which Feinstein and California’s junior Sen. Alex Padilla denied.

“I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea. All of that is gone,” one lawmaker said of Feinstein’s memory lapses. “She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that’s why my encounter with her was so jarring — because there was just no trace of that.”

The senator suffered personal tragedy recently when her husband of 40 years died in February. Feinstein said in a statement that his death distracted her but that she is still ready and able to serve her constituents.

“The last year has been extremely painful and distracting for me, flying back and forth to visit my dying husband who passed just a few weeks ago,” Feinstein said. “But there’s no question I’m still serving and delivering for the people of California. And I’ll put my record up against anyone’s.”

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Feinstein stepped down from the top Democratic position on the Senate Judiciary Committee after pressure from Senate Democratic leaders and liberal activists due to her performance at the Supreme Court nominations of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in October 2020. Feinstein was criticized for being too conciliatory with committee Republicans who ran the hearing, including giving then-Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina a congratulatory hug.