Feinstein is increasingly criticized, but voters are still divided over her condition

On her way to get married at San Francisco City Hall, Megan Kracalik Bayar walked past a bronze statue of Senator Dianne Feinstein that honored her years as the city’s mayor.

Mrs. Bayar had heard on the radio that Mrs. Feinstein, a Democratic eminence in California politics for decades, suffered from brain swelling and became increasingly weak, forgetful and disabled.

“I didn’t know she was so unwell,” Mrs. Bayar said, minutes before posing for her wedding photos in the cavernous rotunda. “I feel sorry for her.”

But she wasn’t ready to pass judgment on whether Ms Feinstein, 89, should step down. “I haven’t come to a conclusion yet,” she said.

Voters interviewed in California on Thursday had mixed opinions about the significance and ramifications of new and troubling revelations about Ms. Feinstein’s condition. But they did not seem to share the sense of urgency expressed by some of the state’s political players, the politicians, donors and activists who were alarmed by the possibility that Ms. Feinstein’s condition would slow down the agenda and effectiveness of Washington Democrats. .

Denise Dixon, a lifelong Democrat who lives in Anaheim, southeast of Los Angeles, said she was still unsure of Ms. Feinstein’s mental capacity and whether the senator could continue her job.

“As a voter, I hope she is responsible and makes the right choice to step down now or later,” said Ms Dixon, who voted for Ms Feinstein in 2018.

After a New York Times report on Thursday found Ms. Feinstein’s condition was more serious than her office had previously disclosed, a spokesperson confirmed that the senator was suffering from shingles — a virus that causes vision and balance disorders and partial paralysis in her face. had caused – had also caused encephalitis, a rare but potentially debilitating swelling of the brain. Ms. Feinstein returned to the Capitol last week after missing more than two months due to her illness.

The revelation has fueled calls for Ms. Feinstein’s resignation, especially among those most politically involved. She has already announced that she will retire when her sixth term ends in January 2025, but there are growing doubts about her ability to fulfill her duties until then.

“She’s not able to do everything, do all the things she’d like to do — she just doesn’t have the energy,” said Tanya Berger, 72, a retired real estate agent and Democrat, who has been elected by the city of Orange. on Thursday afternoon with her friend and bridge partner after an Italian lunch. “It’s time. We just need some new blood. We just need some people who are more up to date.”

Ms. Feinstein has been such a fixture in California’s Democratic politics—she was first elected to the Senate more than three decades ago—that her presence and continued political victories are taken for granted by many voters.

Jeremy Levine, a Democrat who works for a housing policy nonprofit and lives in Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco, didn’t bother voting for Ms. Feinstein in 2018 because he was so sure she would win. Now he thinks she should resign if she can’t perform the most fundamental parts of a senator’s job: voting on bills and appointing judges.

“Feinstein has been a great senator for California for a long time — long before I was alive, she led the charge,” he said. “I’m not going to criticize her values. It’s just, like, can she do the job?

The bust of Mrs. Feinstein at San Francisco City Hall inscribes her long political career: member of the city’s Board of Supervisors from 1970 to 1978. Mayor from 1978 to 1988. Her final chapter still awaits final engraving: US Senator: “1992 — ”

She broke barriers as the first woman to serve as mayor of San Francisco and, later, the first woman to serve as a senator from California, sworn in two months before Senator Barbara Boxer. She was praised for the poise she displayed as she took charge of the city when the mayor, George Moscone, and a supervisor, Harvey Milk, were murdered at City Hall in 1978.

But the importance of that history is increasingly lost among younger residents, even in the space where it took place.

Late Thursday afternoon, Ryan Nichols, a process server, hurried into the mayor’s office with a stack of documents. Mr Nichols, 29, said he pays more attention to politics than most of his friends. A registered Republican who considers himself a libertarian, he said he is despondent about the poverty he sees on the streets around City Hall and feels California is “going downhill.”

As he headed out the door, he glanced at the bronze representation of Mrs. Feinstein, who had been elected to the Senate before he was born. When a reporter told him the statue belonged to Dianne Feinstein, he headed for the elevator. “I don’t know who that is,” he said.

Vic Jolly reported from Orange, California, Sergio Olmos reported from Los Angeles, and Evan Peng from Palo Alto, California.