Gavin Newsom Picks Black, Lesbian, EMILY’s List President Laphonza Butler, a Resident of Maryland, to Fill Vacant California Senate Seat
Not only does she check all the progressive boxes needed to keep the various subsets of coalitions together, black, lesbian, abortion specialist etc.; but Laphonza Butler also comes from the ideological stable and network of Barack Obama/Oprah Winfrey and was a former advisor to Kamala Harris. The fact that Butler lives as a registered voter in Maryland was a trifle issue of no consequence, all things considered.
The announcement before Dianne Feinstein is even buried is simply a reflection of how the Obama network views people as disposable once their usefulness is exhausted. The media need to play up the “narrow margin, votes are needed” angle in order to pretend the impropriety is unavoidable.
(VIA POLITICO) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom will appoint EMILY’s List President Laphonza Butler to fill the seat of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, elevating the head of a fundraising juggernaut that works to elect Democratic women who support abortion rights, according to a person familiar with the decision.
Newsom is moving swiftly to name the next senator, two days after Feinstein’s death and just as a perilously split Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown. Senate Democrats are in need of every vote in the closely divided chamber.
The announcement was expected to come Monday, and an adviser to the governor, Anthony York, told POLITICO that Newsom is making his appointment without putting limitations or preconditions on his pick running for the seat in 2024. That means Butler could decide to join the sprawling and competitive field of Democratic contenders seeking to succeed Feinstein, with special elections now layered on top of the March primary and November runoff.
Butler is expected to be sworn-in to the U.S. Senate on Wednesday by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Newsom’s selection of Butler comes at a moment of immense change in California’s political establishment, with millions of people still mourning the death of Feinstein, the barrier-breaking Senate lioness. Meanwhile the California governor, who was mentored by Feinstein, has been grappling with his own personal grief and the political ramifications of his choice to succeed her.
The people who spoke with POLITICO ahead of the announcement were granted anonymity to disclose internal deliberations. Butler is registered to vote in Maryland but will switch her registration to California. (read more)
Keep watching! Biden doesn’t stand a chance. Chicago!