Laphonza Butler

Laphonza Romanique Butler (born May 11, 1979) is an American labor union official and politician serving as the junior United States senator from California since 2023. Butler began her career as a union organizer, and served as president of California SEIU State Council from 2013 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, she was a regent of the University of California system from 2018 to 2021, and the president of EMILY's List from 2021 to 2023.

On October 1, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom chose Butler to fill the United States Senate seat left vacant by the death of Dianne Feinstein. She is the second openly lesbian woman to serve in the Senate.

Early life and education
Butler was born on May 11, 1979, in Magnolia, Mississippi, the youngest of three children. Her father died of heart disease when Butler was 16 years old. She graduated as a salutatorian from South Pike High School in 1997. Butler earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Jackson State University in 2001.

Career
Butler began her career as a union organizer for nurses in Baltimore and Milwaukee, janitors in Philadelphia, and hospital workers in New Haven, Connecticut. In 2009, she moved to California, where she organized in-home caregivers and nurses and served as president of SEIU United Long Term Care Workers, SEIU Local 2015. Butler was elected president of the California SEIU State Council in 2013. She undertook efforts to boost California's minimum wage and raise income taxes on the wealthiest Californians. As president of SEIU Local 2015, Butler endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. Butler was one of California's electors who voted for Clinton in the 2016 election.

In 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown appointed Butler to a 12-year term as a regent of the University of California. She resigned from her role as regent in 2021.

Butler joined SCRB Strategies, a California-based political-consulting firm, as a partner in 2018. At SCRB, she played a central role in Kamala Harris's 2020 presidential campaign. She has been a political ally of Harris's since the latter's first run for California Attorney General in 2010, when she helped Harris negotiate a shared SEIU endorsement in the race. Butler advised Uber in its dealings with organized labor while at SCRB, at a time when Uber was attempting to stop state legislation from classifying its drivers as employees. The New York Times reported that Butler "advised Uber on how to deal with unions like the Teamsters and S.E.I.U., and sat in on several face-to-face meetings between the gig companies and union representatives". Butler left SCRB in 2020 to join Airbnb as director of public policy and campaigns in North America.

In 2021, Butler was named the third president of EMILY's List. She was the first black woman and first mother to lead the organization. In February 2022, Butler joined the board of directors of Vision to Learn.

Appointment
In February 2023, incumbent U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein announced she would not run for a sixth full term in the Senate in 2024. On September 29, 2023, she died at the age of 90. At the time of Feinstein's death, several prominent candidates had already announced campaigns for her seat, including U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, and Adam Schiff. California Governor Gavin Newsom had previously pledged to nominate a black woman to the office.

On October 1, 2023, Newsom chose Butler to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Feinstein's death, fulfilling his pledge to appoint a black woman. Butler was selected despite not being a resident of California, as she had moved to Maryland in 2021. The United States Constitution requires only that senators be "inhabitants" of the state they represent. Newsom's office said that Butler would re-register to vote in California before taking office as a senator. Shortly before nominating Butler, Newsom announced that his nominee would be free to run in 2024 if they chose, a departure from his previous position; after being sworn in, Butler announced she would not seek election to a full Senate term.

Butler became the first openly LGBT member of the U.S. Senate from California and its first black LGBT member, and was sworn in on October 3, 2023.

Tenure
Butler made her first floor speech on January 17, 2024. She often reads from banned books during her Senate floor speeches to raise awareness.

In January 2024, Butler voted for a resolution, proposed by Bernie Sanders, to apply the human rights provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act to U.S. aid to Israel's military. The proposal was defeated, 72 to 11.

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
 * Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance
 * Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
 * Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management
 * Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
 * Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on the Constitution (Chair)
 * Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism
 * Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action and Federal Rights
 * Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law
 * Committee on Rules and Administration

Caucus memberships

 * Congressional Black Caucus

Personal life
Butler is a lesbian, and she and her wife, Neneki Lee, have a daughter. They moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, in 2021 when she assumed the presidency of EMILY's List, while continuing to own a home in View Park, California, in Los Angeles County. In October 2023, when Newsom appointed her to the Senate, she re-domiciled to that home and re-registered to vote in California.