Dianne Emiel Feinstein was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988.
This article covers the history of women in the United States Senate and various milestones achieved by female senators. It includes a list of all women who have served in the Senate, a list of current female senators, and a list of states represented by women in the Senate. The first female U.S. senator, Rebecca Latimer Felton, represented Georgia for a single day in 1922, and the first woman elected to the Senate, Hattie Caraway, was elected from Arkansas in 1932. Sixty women have served in the upper house of the United States Congress since its establishment in 1789. As of October 3, 2023, there are 25 women serving as U.S. senators. Additionally, Kamala Harris as vice president serves as President of the Senate.
The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the legislative branch. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two successive terms. Because of San Francisco's status as a consolidated city-county, the mayor also serves as the head of government of the county; both entities have been governed together by a combined set of governing bodies since 1856.
The 1990 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990. The Republican candidate, Senator Pete Wilson, defeated the Democratic candidate, former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein.
Kevin Alexander Leon, known professionally as Kevin de León and colloquially as KDL, is an American politician serving as the Los Angeles City Council member for District 14 since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in the 2018 United States Senate election in California against incumbent Senator Dianne Feinstein and came in third place in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election.
The 1992 United States Senate special election in California took place on November 3, 1992, at the same time as the regular election to the United States Senate in California. Feinstein defeated future California governor Gray Davis in the Democratic primary, while Seymour defeated William E. Dannemeyer in the Republican primary.
James W. Rutherford was a mayor of the City of Flint, Michigan serving as the first "strong" mayor elected under Flint's 1974 charter. Rutherford served for two terms. Rutherford was elected as a caretaker mayor after the recall of Mayor Stanley was recalled and an Emergency Financial Manager, Ed Kurtz, was appointed by the state.
The 1977 San Francisco general elections occurred on November 8, 1977, for all 11 newly created electoral districts to be represented in the Board of Supervisors for the 1978 fiscal year, as well as the position of City Attorney, the position of City Treasurer and a roster of 22 propositions. It was the first time in San Francisco's history that Board elections were held on a districted basis rather than on a citywide at-large basis; in the November 1976 general election, voters in San Francisco decided to reorganize supervisor elections to choose supervisors from neighborhoods instead of voting for them in citywide ballots when they voted for Proposition T, which included the definition of the district boundaries.
The 1975 mayoral election was held to select the 37th mayor of San Francisco, and was held in two parts. In the November regular election, then-Speaker of the California State Assembly George Moscone placed first with conservative city supervisor John Barbagelata second and moderate supervisor Dianne Feinstein coming in third. Moscone and Barbagelata thus both advanced to the mandated runoff election in December where Moscone narrowly defeated the conservative supervisor by 4,400 votes, a margin of less than 1%.
The 1987 mayoral election was held to elect the 39th mayor of San Francisco. Dianne Feinstein, then the incumbent, had served as mayor since the 1978 assassination of mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk and had been elected to full terms in 1979 and 1983, and was thus term-limited. Then-California State Assembly member Art Agnos came from behind to defeat Supervisor John Molinari, garnering nearly 70 percent of the vote.
The 1979 mayoral election was held to elect the mayor of San Francisco. Incumbent mayor Dianne Feinstein, who had succeeded George Moscone after his assassination the prior year, was elected to her first full term as mayor of the City and County, the first woman to be elected to the position in the city's history. Feinstein, with 46.63%, and Quentin L. Kopp, with 44.72%, were the top two finishers in the first-round, and advanced to a runoff. In the first round the two of them had beat out musician Jello Biafra, Sylvia Weinstein, Cesar Ascarrunz, Steve L. Calitri, Tibor Uskert, Joe Hughes and Patricia Dolbeare.
The mayoralty of Dianne Feinstein lasted from November 27, 1978, to January 8, 1988, while she served as the 38th Mayor of San Francisco. Feinstein gained the position following the Moscone–Milk assassinations, in which her predecessor, Mayor George Moscone, was killed by Dan White, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She was formally appointed to the position by the Board of Supervisors by a vote of six to two and inaugurated on December 4, 1978.
The San Francisco District Attorney's Office is the legal agency charged with prosecuting crimes in the City and County of San Francisco, California. The current district attorney is Brooke Jenkins. Occupants of this office have gone on to higher elected offices, including: governor of California, United States Senator, and vice president of the United States.
The 1979 Chicago mayoral election was first the primary on February 27, 1979, which was followed by the general on April 3, 1979. The election saw the election of Chicago, Illinois' first female mayor, and the first female mayor of any major American city, Jane M. Byrne. Byrne defeated Republican Wallace Johnson by a landslide 66 percent margin of victory, winning more than 82 percent of the vote. Byrne's 82% of the vote is the most any candidate has received in a Chicago mayoral election.
The 2019 United States elections were held, in large part, on Tuesday, November 5, 2019. This off-year election included gubernatorial elections in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi; regularly-scheduled state legislative elections in Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, and New Jersey; and special elections for seats in various state legislatures. Numerous citizen initiatives, mayoral races, and a variety of other local elections also occurred. Three special elections to the United States House of Representatives also took place in 2019 as a result of vacancies.
The San Francisco mayoral election of 1971 was held on November 2, 1971, with incumbent Joseph Alioto being re-elected with 38.6 percent of the vote, from among 11 candidates, there being no provision for a runoff.
The 2024 United States Senate elections in California will be held on November 5, 2024, in order to elect a person to represent the state of California to the United States Senate. There will be two ballot items for the same Class 1 seat: a special election to fill the seat for the final weeks of the 118th United States Congress, and a general election for a full term that starts on January 3, 2025, starting in the 119th United States Congress. California uses a nonpartisan blanket primary, in which all candidates regardless of party affiliation appear on the same primary ballot and the two highest-placing candidates advance to the general election.
The 1983 San Francisco mayoral recall election was held on April 26, 1983, to determine whether mayor Dianne Feinstein should be removed from office. The recall measure was overwhelmingly defeated, and Feinstein remained in office.
The 2022 San Francisco Board of Education recall elections were held on February 15, 2022. In a landslide election, over two-thirds of voters chose to remove three San Francisco Board of Education Commissioners—Alison Collins, Board President Gabriela Lopez, and Faauuga Moliga—from office. All three commissioners were replaced by appointees chosen by Mayor London Breed. The other four members of the school board were not eligible for recall at this time.
Keven Alexander McKenna was an American lawyer and politician.
