LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom will name Laphonza Butler, a Democratic strategist and adviser to Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a spokesman in his office said Sunday.
In choosing Butler, Newsom fulfilled his pledge to appoint a Black woman if Feinstein’s seat should become open. However, he had been facing pressure by some Black politicians and advocacy groups to select Rep. Barbara Lee, a prominent Black congresswoman who is already running for the seat.
The long-serving Democratic senator died last Thursday after a series of illnesses. Butler leads Emily’s List, a political organization that supports Democratic women candidates who favor abortion rights. She also is a former labor leader with SEIU 2015, a powerful force in California politics.
Butler currently lives in Maryland, according to her Emily’s List biography.
She did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman in Newsom’s office who declined to be named confirmed to The Associated Press that Newsom had chosen Butler.
I don’t remember if it was PA or another state, where they elected a dead man recently. So no, you don’t even have to be alive to vote or be elected on Dem ticket.
The woman who will become the newest US senator may not be a household name nationally, but she is a familiar figure in California political circles. Gov. Gavin Newsom has picked Laphonza Butler to fill the seat of the late Dianne Feinstein, reports Politico. Some basics:
・Butler, 44, is the president of Emily’s List, a powerful fundraising group that backs female candidates who support abortion rights, per the New York Times. She previously led the state’s biggest labor union and served as a strategist to Vice President Kamala Harris during Harris’ 2020 presidential run. The two have remained close since then, per Politico.
・Butler will be the first openly LGBTQ+ senator to represent California, notes the AP.
・She will be the only Black woman in the Senate when Harris swears her in, which is expected to happen on Wednesday.
・The choice fulfills Newsom’s promise to appoint a Black woman should a vacancy open up. Butler will fill the seat until next year’s election, and she could choose to run for a full term at that point (Newsom placed no restrictions in that regard, the Times notes). Already in the race are Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff, and Katie Porter.
・The AP notes that Newsom had been under pressure from some Black political leaders to select Lee, who also is Black, for the interim post, but the governor said he did not want to give any of the stated candidates an unfair advantage next year.
GOP lawmaker Issa demands answers from Newsom, Senate leaders on Laphonza Butler’s Maryland residency
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is expected to send a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday afternoon expressing concern over Newsom’s recent appointee to replace the late Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Newsom tapped Laphonza Butler, the president of EMILY’s List – a Democratic political action committee (PAC) dedicated to electing pro-abortion Democratic women to office – for the vacant interim Senate seat late Sunday evening.
However, Butler’s home address is listed in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Issa is questioning the constitutionality of her ability to take office while residing in a different state than the one she will represent.
“We’re not talking about the question of majority, we’re talking about 38 million Californians who have an absolute right to have somebody who puts California first – not who puts the District of Columbia first or Maryland, where she’s a resident, first,” Issa told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday.
Alexander, Did Fetter-brain die? I hadn’t heard?
But I did see a very large Carhartt Hoodie flying half staff over the local car dealership!
(and a pair of joggin’ shorts!)…wait for it… I just thought they were having a SAIL! There are a lot of DEAD people serving in .gov today!
Especially the decaying fool in the big chair!
Ya gotta love these people’s names though, what were their parents thinkin (or smoking) “Lalapalooza Butler”, what was that idiots name that did/didn’t pull the fire alarm? … Jus sayin’
LOL, the brain died, at least the portion where IQ resides did, the rest continues to serve the people of PA. One day, they will film a Halloween horror about this.
I used to be a process server for extra cash. Had to serve on a woman named Kissawhanda! Not kidding. Came across a lot of names! But that one is still the butt of a lot of jokes!
OK… Lessee if I got this right Scott
You did your duty in Submarines correct… you did Process Serving for kicks…uh huh…
And people say I HAD A DEATH WISH! Kissawhanda! for the Senate right? oh man Heart palpatations! wphew!..
Funny you mention that. Just out of hospital, third stent installed two weeks ago. Fourth going in, in two more weeks!
Literally building a Farraday cage in my heart
GOD BLESS YOU BROTHER!
I pray for your surgical success and Terminator-ability when you are healed!
I need you to stick around WE WARRIORS NEED TO FINISH THIS FIGHT!
I hate to see anyone die if I hate them or not, and she like Robert Byrd should have retired 25 yrs. ago. Its absurd that we have people who dont know where they are at or what they are doing half the time. I remember she was heading a anti-gun group and she banned any gun that had a perforated barrel schroud. A real authority lol
Would you feel that way if it had been Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot etc?
She’s had a decades long negative influence on the Country, and has contributed greatly to its demise.
I guess I just didnt wanna get negative repercussions No matter what i seem to sat i get it right in the backside. I just dont wanna wish anyones death. Too much of that goin around anymore. Try to keep my true feelings to myself anymore, but someone should be able to read inside the lines there
