Top Democrats welcomed Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) to the Capitol on Tuesday for her first day on the job after being appointed over the weekend by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).
The Senate’s newest member gathered with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in his leadership office ahead of being sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Old Senate Chamber. The Congressional Black Caucus then hosted Butler for a ceremonial swearing-in at the Rosa Parks statue in Statuary Hall.
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Asked by the Washington Examiner how her first day was going during a photo spray with Schumer ahead of their sit-down, Butler replied, “I’m having a great day.”
Calling it a “great occasion,” Schumer told reporters that Butler would be a “great senator. I’m excited, happy, thrilled that she is here.”
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Butler’s home-state colleague, mused about the intensity of being appointed and sworn in to the Senate within a two-day time frame.
“I thought I had a challenging transition only having 28 days from my call with the governor to raising my right hand. She’s had a whopping 48 hours,” Padilla remarked to the Washington Examiner after the swearing-in ceremony. “I thought I drank from the firing hose a couple years ago, I can only imagine. But I’m here to support her and help her in any way possible. I know she’s going to do great.”
Newsom announced Butler’s appointment to the seat on Sunday evening, two days after the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) died at the age of 90. Prior to her Senate appointment, Butler, 44, served as the president of EMILY’s List, an organization focused on electing Democratic women who support abortion rights to higher office.
California’s junior senator now faces a flurry of speculation regarding her political future. Butler, who did not respond to shouted questions on Tuesday about her 2024 plans, ascends to the seat amid an expensive and competitive contest to fill the role for a full term next year.
Public polling on the Senate race shows Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Katie Porter (D-CA) essentially tied for the top spot and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) not far behind, all within the margin of error in most surveys. Also in the mix are baseball legend Steve Garvey, who is mulling a bid as a centrist Republican, and former tech executive Lexi Reese, a Democrat who raised an impressive $1 million in the second quarter of this year but is an unknown in the state.
Lee, a black woman, was one of Newsom’s front-runners to fill Harris’s seat, though the governor is hoping to avoid weighing in on the 2024 primary with his pick for Feinstein’s replacement. Lee has polled behind Schiff and Porter, so an appointment by Newsom would have given her the benefit of incumbency in her primary race.
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Newsom said earlier this year he would choose a caretaker to fill the seat temporarily in the event of a vacancy to avoid throwing next year’s contest to one candidate over another, though Lee called that decision “insulting.”
Despite the disapproval from Lee’s orbit, Butler was embraced by her new Democratic colleagues on Tuesday. She is expected to receive an even warmer welcome when she is introduced to the entire conference at the weekly party luncheon on Wednesday, which will be her first time gathering with members since she was sworn into office.
