NEWS
Gov. Gavin Newsom Picks Laphonza Butler of EMILY’s List to Fill Senate Seat Held By Dianne Feinstein
Courtesy of EMILY’s List
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has selected Laphonza Butler, the president of EMILY’s List and a senior adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris, to fill the U.S. Senate seat held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Newsom had pledged to appoint a Black woman to fill Feinstein’s seat, but defied calls to appoint Rep. Barbara Lee, who has been serving in the House since 1998.
“An advocate for women and girls, a second-generation fighter for working people, and a trusted adviser to Vice President Harris, Laphonza Butler represents the best of California, and she’ll represent us proudly in the United States Senate,” Newsom said in a statement Sunday.
“As we mourn the enormous loss of Senator Feinstein, the very freedoms she fought for — reproductive freedom, equal protection, and safety from gun violence — have never been under greater assault. Laphonza will carry the baton left by Senator Feinstein, continue to break glass ceilings, and fight for all Californians in Washington D.C.,” Newsom said.
Butler will step down from her position as president of EMILY’s List, an organization focused on electing Democratic women who support abortion rights.
According to the announcement, Butler will be the first openly LGBTQ person to represent California in the Senate. She is the first Black lesbian to openly serve in Congress, and the second Black woman to represent California in the Senate following Harris.
Butler served as President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Long Term Care Workers and also as SEIU’s Property Services Division Director, a strategy position responsible for organizing 250,000 janitors, security officers, window cleaners, and food service workers nationally.
After leaving the SEIU, Butler held executive positions at Uber, which fought against California’s effort to classify drivers as employees, and at Airbnb.
More recently, Butler served as a senior adviser to Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign.
“Ms. Butler is an excellent choice as the head of EMILY’s List; she will be a shrewd and powerful addition to the Senate,” Kaivan Shroff, a progressive political pundit and attorney, said. “She will be the only Black woman in the Senate, a stunning reality in 2023 — as one party discusses the ‘benefits of slavery’ and works to push a national abortion ban.”
Feinstein, a fixture of California politics for more than 50 years and San Francisco’s first woman mayor, died Thursday night at the age of 90. She had planned to retire when her current term ends in 2024.
Rep. Lee is currently running to fill her seat in the next term, as are Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
TMX contributed to this article.
