Free Republic

When California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom announced his nominee to fill the late Democrat U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s unexpired Senate term, one would have expected the nomination to raise some eyebrows. On the issues, he picked a garden-variety modern leftist extremist, very much a typical candidate for the current Democratic party. Newsom’s pick — Laphonza Butler has been a union boss and an abortion lobbyist. She’s worked for a Kamala Harris campaign. She supports the destruction of big city policing that George Soros requires, and she checks off the demographic boxes – black, female, lesbian – that the rest of...

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...

The recent death of former Sen. Dianne Feinstein left Gov. Gavin Newsom in a predicament. Would he keep his promise to fill the seat with a black woman even though two white people (Adam Schiff and Katie Porter) are leading the 2024 race for the seat? As RedState reported, the answer is yes. Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler, whose only qualifications appear to be working on Kamala Harris' failed 2020 presidential campaign while being a "black lesbian." Naturally, the California governor is touting the latter. Governor @GavinNewsom has selected Laphonza Butler to complete Senator Feinstein’s term.A trusted adviser to @VP Harris...

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is expected to send a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday afternoon expressing concern over Newsom’s recent appointee to replace the late Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Newsom tapped Laphonza Butler, the president of EMILY's List – a Democratic political action committee (PAC) dedicated to electing pro-abortion Democratic women to office – for the vacant interim Senate seat late Sunday evening. However, Butler's home address is listed in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Issa is questioning...

California Governor Gavin Newsom named a black woman to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Dianne Feinstein. And not just any black woman. Laphonza Butler is a black lesbian woman, and for that, according to Newsom, “She will make history.” *She’s been involved in California politics for nearly 15 years, and she used to head up the Golden State’s largest labor union, according to The New York Times.* Butler was also “an adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris,” The Times reports. “In 2021, she became the first Black woman to take the helm at Emily’s List,...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has selected Laphonza Butler, a Democratic strategist and adviser to Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign, to fill the U.S. Senate seat made vacant by the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Butler currently lives in Maryland, according to her Emily’s List biography. Izzy Gardon, a spokesman for Newsom, said Butler owns a home in California. She is expected to reregister to vote in California before being sworn in. That could happen as early as Tuesday evening when the Senate returns to session.

EMILY’s List, the left wing Super PAC which previously employed newly selected California Sen. Laphonza Butler, removed a section of her bio that stated she lived in Maryland. Internet Archives reveal a now-removed section of her biography that said, “She lives in Maryland with her partner Neneki Lee and their daughter Nylah.” Butler, who California Gov. Gavin Newsom selected to fill the seat vacated by Dianne Feinstein’s death, had listed her home address as Silver Springs, Maryland, as recently as August, according to FEC filings. She had also reportedly registered to vote in Maryland in 2022. ... Newsom tapped Butler...

Several leading black Democrats are criticizing California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for nominating Laphonza Butler of Maryland to fill Dianne Feinstein’s Senate vacancy instead of current Senate candidate Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). Butler has lived in California, and owns a home in the state, but lives in Maryland and must register to vote in the Golden State before becoming constitutionally eligible to replace Feinstein, who died Friday at the age of 90. Lee has been running to replace Feinstein, whose retirement was announced earlier this year. Butler may be able to run for the post as well, once she has...

Former Secretary of State and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) on Monday penned a tribute to her late colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), describing her as a champion of democracy who was “brave, honorable, honest and unafraid to do what was right for her constituents and her country.” In an opinion piece in The Washington Post, Clinton recalled arriving in Washington as first lady in 1993, when Feinstein first arrived to the Senate. Clinton said when she heard Feinstein use her first floor speech to advocate for the Family and Medical Leave Act, “I knew I had found a...

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,...