Laphonza Butler | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2023 | |
| United States Senator fromCalifornia | |
| In office October 1, 2023 – December 8, 2024 | |
| Appointed by | Gavin Newsom |
| Preceded by | Dianne Feinstein |
| Succeeded by | Adam Schiff |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Laphonza Romanique Butler (1979-05-11)May 11, 1979 (age 46) Magnolia, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Neneki Lee |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Jackson State University (BA) |
| Signature |  |
Laphonza Romanique Butler (/ləˈfɔːnzə/lə-FON-zə; born May 11, 1979) is an American labor union official and former politician who served as aUnited States senator fromCalifornia from 2023 to 2024. Butler began her career as aunion organizer, and served as president of CaliforniaSEIU State Council from 2013 to 2018. A member of theDemocratic Party, she was aregent of the University of California system from 2018 to 2021, and the president ofEMILY's List from 2021 to 2023.
Butler is a longtime ally ofKamala Harris. On October 1, 2023, California GovernorGavin Newsom chose Butler to fill the United States Senate seat left vacant by the death ofDianne Feinstein, becoming the first openlyLGBT African American to serve in the Senate. Soon after taking office, she announced on October 19, 2023, that she would not run for a full term in the2024 election.Adam Schiff was elected to succeed her.
Butler was born on May 11, 1979, inMagnolia, Mississippi, the youngest of three children. Her father died ofheart disease when Butler was 16 years old. She graduated as a salutatorian fromSouth Pike High School in 1997.[1][2][3] Butler earned a bachelor's degree in political science fromJackson State University in 2001.[1][4]
Butler began her career as aunion organizer for nurses inBaltimore andMilwaukee, janitors inPhiladelphia, and hospital workers inNew Haven, Connecticut. In 2009, she moved toCalifornia, where she organized in-home caregivers and nurses and served as president ofSEIU United Long Term Care Workers, SEIU Local 2015.[4][5][6] Butler was elected president of the California SEIU State Council in 2013. She undertook efforts to boost California'sminimum wage and raiseincome taxes on the wealthiest Californians.[4] As president of SEIU Local 2015, Butler endorsedHillary Clinton in the2016 Democratic presidential primary.[7] Butler was one ofCalifornia's electors who voted for Clinton in the 2016 election.[8]
In 2018,California GovernorJerry Brown appointed Butler to a 12-year term as aregent of the University of California.[6] She resigned from her role as regent in 2021.[9]
Butler joined SCRB Strategies, a California-based political-consulting firm, as a partner in 2018. At SCRB, she played a central role inKamala Harris's2020 presidential campaign. She has been a political ally of Harris's since the latter's first run forCalifornia Attorney General in2010, when she helped Harris negotiate a shared SEIU endorsement in the race.[4][10] Butler advisedUber in its dealings with organized labor while at SCRB,[11] at a time when Uber was attempting to stop state legislation from classifying its drivers as employees.[12] TheNew 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".[13] Butler left SCRB in 2020 to joinAirbnb as director of public policy and campaigns in North America.[14][15]
In 2021, Butler was named the third president ofEMILY's List. She was the first black woman and first mother to lead the organization.[16][4] In February 2022, Butler joined the board of directors ofVision to Learn.[17][18]
In February 2023, incumbent U.S. SenatorDianne Feinstein announced she would not run for a sixth full term in the Senate in2024. 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. RepresentativesBarbara Lee,Katie Porter, andAdam Schiff. California GovernorGavin Newsom had previously pledged to nominate a black woman to the office.[19]
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.[20][21] Butler was selected despite not being a resident of California, as she had moved toMaryland in 2021.[22] TheUnited States Constitution requires only that senators be "inhabitants" of the state they represent.[22] Newsom's office said that Butler would re-register to vote in California before taking office as a senator.[23] Shortly before nominating Butler, Newsom announced that his nominee would be free to run in 2024 if that person so chose,[24] a departure from his previous position.[25] After being sworn in, Butler announced she would not seek election to a full Senate term[15] or run in the November 2024 special election for the final two months of Feinstein's term.[26]Adam Schiff won both elections.
When she was sworn in on October 3, 2023, Butler became the first openly lesbian Black woman in Congress,[27] the first openlyLGBT member of the U.S. Senate from California, and its first openly LGBT Black member.[28][29]
During the2024 presidential election campaign, Butler was described as a close ally of Democratic nomineeKamala Harris, herself a former U.S. Senator from California; Butler had previously advised her during her2020 campaign.[30][31] Butler was identified by media sources as a likely contender for a position in a Harris administration.[32][33]
Butler made her first floor speech on January 17, 2024.[34] Since February 2024, she has read aloud from banned books on the Senate floor to bring attention to book banning.[35][36]
In January 2024, Butler voted for a resolution proposed byBernie Sanders to apply thehuman rights provisions of theForeign Assistance Act toU.S. aid to Israel's military. The proposal was defeated, 72 to 11.[37]
During her tenure, Butler introduced 33 pieces of legislation and cosponsored 333 more.
On September 12, 2024, Butler introduced the Workforce of the Future Act of 2024, which was aimed at promoting a twenty first century Artificial Intelligence workforce and creating a program to increase access to prekindergarten through grade 12 emerging and advanced technology education and upskill workers in the technology of the future.
Butler resigned from the Senate on December 8, 2024, and was succeeded by Adam Schiff, whoin November 2024 was elected both to complete the remaining weeks of Feinstein's Senate term and to the new Class 1 Senate term beginning in January 2025.[38]
After leaving office, Butler joined public affairs firm Actum in 2025. She reportedly signed on as an advisor forChatGPT-makerOpenAI.[41]
Butler is alesbian, and she and her wife, Neneci Lee, have a daughter.[42] They moved toSilver Spring, Maryland, in 2021 when she assumed the presidency of EMILY's List,[43][44] while continuing to own a home inView Park, California, inLos Angeles County.[45] In October 2023, when Newsom appointed her to the Senate, she re-domiciled to that home and re-registered to vote in California.[45]
| U.S. Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from California 2023–2024 Served alongside:Alex Padilla | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Senator | Order of precedence of the United States | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Senator |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
