Lesbian powerhouse Laphonza Butler to fill Diane Feinstein’s Senate seat

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will appoint Laphonza Butler, the lesbian president of the pro-choice women’s political action committee EMILY’s List, to replace recently deceased Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate, according to Politico. She will be the first out LGBTQ+ person to serve as as California’s U.S. senator.

Butler’s short-term appointment will fulfill Newsom’s 2021 promise to appoint a Black woman to the seat. Her appointment will also help ensure that the narrowly divided U.S. Senate will maintain its slight Democratic control leading into the 2024 elections.

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Butler is known as a savvy political consultant, union leader, and fundraising powerhouse for female pro-choice candidates.

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She served as a senior strategist in Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign, has worked as the director for public policy and campaigns at the homestay rentals company Airbnb, served as president of the California chapter of the Service Employees International Union (representing 325,000 nursing home and home-care workers throughout the state), and served on the University of California Board of Regents.

In a May 2022 Medium.com post addressed to her daughter, Butler wrote that anti-abortion politicians who are “working to restrict the right to have control over our own bodies are the ones making it harder for people to vote.”

“And these are yet again, the same politicians who also don’t believe in science, who are attacking trans-youth and erasing the history of our country by banning books,” Butler wrote. “With so much dishonesty in our world, it’s my dream of living in a world that protects you and all America’s daughters that fuels the fight in me. In these tough moments, one life lesson you should take and keep with you is that in order to keep certain freedoms, you must be willing to fight for them.”

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In a statement about Butler’s appointment, Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, said, “Laphonza Butler is eminently qualified to represent California well in the United States Senate and we are thrilled to congratulate her.”

“This historic appointment by Governor Newsom will give our LGBTQ+ community another voice in Congress at a time when our rights and freedoms are under attack across the country,” Hoang added. “We look forward to working with Laphonza as she steps into this new role and continues her lifelong fight for our shared values of equity, freedom, and justice for all.”

If Butler decides to run for the seat when it comes up for re-election in 2024, she will face other competitors who have already announced their candidacy, including Rep. Katie Porter (D-IA), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), tech executive Lexi Reese (D), twice failed California attorney general Eric Earl (R), and thrice failed U.S. congressional candidate James P. Bradley (R).