LOS ANGELES (AP) — When California Gov. Gavin Newsom needed to fill the U.S. Senate seat of his late mentor Dianne Feinstein, he could have turned to a big-city mayor, a member of Congress or a powerful legislator.
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom needed to fill the U.S. Senate seat of his late mentor Dianne Feinstein, he could have turned to a big-city mayor, a member of Congress or a powerful legislator.
Instead, he chose Laphonza Butler, a former union leader and Democratic insider who heads a national organization that raises money for women candidates who support abortion rights. She offered a familiar face who shares his vision for a progressive California. In choosing Butler, he also elevated someone who could become an important ally for a potential national campaign that many see in his future.
Once she is sworn in, Butler will be the only Black woman in the Senate and the first openly LGBTQ+ California senator. That, alongside her background in the labor and women’s rights movements, helps harden Newsom’s ties to important national Democratic constituencies.
Speaking to reporters Monday in San Francisco, Newsom praised Butler’s “deep knowledge” of the legislative process and said she was the kind of candidate he would build “if I had to literally design from my imagination.”
“She’s the only choice,” he added.
Few voters outside workaday Democratic politics would recognize her name, but Butler is well known inside the party apparatus. Her credentials include working for nearly two years with a consulting firm tied closely to the governor and founded by his top political lieutenants. She also served as a senior adviser to Kamala Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign and headed Emily’s List, the abortion rights group.
While Newsom could have sought a marquee name to fill the seat, “a comfort level is important. Any governor might be a little hesitant about somebody with too many degrees of separation,” said Claremont McKenna College political scientist Jack Pitney.
But Newsom’s choice will not be universally welcome.
