At the height of the battle against the California wildfires, Kevin de Leon, (D), President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate, has announced that he will challenge incumbent Senator Dianne Feinstein in the Democratic Party primary election in 2018. Calif. Senator Dianne Feinstein, (D), 84, who is the nation's oldest person currently serving in the United States Senate, has announced that she will seek re-election next year. If re-elected, Feinstein will have been elected to her fifth full term as a United States Senator. Feinstein's first term in 1992 was a partial one after she was elected to serve the remainder of Pete Wilson's term when he became Governor of California.

Feinstein was elected to her first full term in the Senate in 1994.

Feinstein's major Senate roles

Feinstein has enjoyed major positions in the United States Senate. She is a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as the Senate Appropriations Committee. She was the first woman chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. She also is the co-chair of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control and the Senate Cancer Coalition. She is a member of the Anti-Meth Caucus and the Congressional Dairy Caucus (California has surpassed Wisconsin as the nation's number one dairy state).

As a former Mayor of San Francisco, Feinstein is an active member of the Congressional Former Mayors Caucus.

As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, she questioned Trump 7th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Amy Coney Barrett's Catholicism during the Senate Confirmation hearings.

In her announcement of her candidacy for re-election, Feinstein said that she still has "lots more to do," according to ABC News on Sunday. As with the farmer, her work is "never done," and she still can come up with a multitude of things to do in yet another term in the U.S.

Senate.

Dianne on gun control

Feinstein has been the leading advocate of gun control in the Senate. She has been successful in advocating complete background checks for purchasers of guns and bans on assault weapons. Both of those accomplishments are under assault currently by the Trump Administration.

When she was unable to block handgun purchases at gun shows, Feinstein proposed legislation requiring background checks for ammunition purchasers.

Although she was unsuccessful in getting such legislation passed at the national level, similar legislation is in effect in California, largely because of Feinstein's leadership.

de Leon's promise

On the other side of the campaign trail, Kevin de Leon is promising to lead a "Progressive" campaign. The first-time statewide candidate denoted the fact that Californians want jobs, and a "sense of security" for themselves and their families, according to ABC News on Sunday.

Well-financed campaign

Feinstein's political consultant, Bill Carrick, stated that Feinstein is preparing for "a very big race." Carrick pointed out that Feinstein's campaign is well-financed and that Feinstein has "a strong record of success in California," according to ABC News on Sunday.

Feinstein has the support of Calif. Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, and other notable California leaders, including Alex Padilla, California Secretary of State, and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, California's other Senator.
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