California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will appoint Laphonza Butler to fill the seat of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Butler checks all of the Left's woke boxes. She is a black lesbian and is president of EMILY’s List, an abortion advocacy group which says its goal is to support political candidates who adhere to the "principles of equity, diversity, reproductive rights, and the provision of equal pay and childcare."
Butler is a Mississippi native and at the time of Newsom's announcement was a resident of Maryland.
"Records indicate that Butler has spent recent years far from the constituents she will represent for the next 15 months," the New York Post reported.
A Federal Election Commission filing from the end of August for EMILY's List listed Silver Spring, Maryland as Butler’s place of residence.
Individual donation records for Butler further indicated she had not lived in California since at least September 2021, when she was chosen to lead EMILY's List.
The Los Angeles Times noted that "Butler also has ties to Newsom’s longtime political operation. Before joining Emily’s List, she was a partner in the political consulting firm now known as Bearstar Strategies that is run by the governor’s veteran strategists Ace Smith, Sean Clegg and Juan Rodriguez."
Newsom is reportedly making the appointment without putting limitations or preconditions on Butler running for the seat in 2024. If she decides to run for the seat, Butler would join a field of Democrat contenders which includes Reps. Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff.
That move by Newsom further infuriated black Democrats who were already incensed that the governor did not appoint Lee to fill the seat following Feinstein's death on Friday at age 90.
“It’s going to hurt him,” the San Francisco Chronicle cited Fred Jordan, chairman of the board of the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, as saying. “Those women in South Carolina that gave Joe Biden the bump, they’re gonna be outraged.”
Jordan called Newsom’s appointment of Butler “disingenuous” and said wanted Newsom to appoint Lee, who he called “the most qualified” person he could have tapped. He slammed Newsom’s comment earlier this month that appointing Lee “would be completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off. That primary is just a matter of months away, I don’t want to tip the balance of that.”
Molly Watson, deputy director of California Donor Table and a board member for the Black Women’s Democratic Club of Los Angeles County, congratulated Butler, but said she was also “baffled” that Newsom did not choose Lee.
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said the move by Newsom shows a “pay-to-play system” that “couldn’t be more obvious.”
“The abortion lobby spends millions to elect Democrats who back its agenda of abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, paid for by taxpayers. Democrats like Newsom, in turn, are beholden to the abortion lobby,” Dannenfelser said. “The pay-to-play system couldn’t be more obvious, with an unelected Senate seat as the ultimate reward. Newsom even passed over staunch pro-abortion candidates who reside in California, in favor of a Beltway insider and the biggest pro-abortion extremist he could find.”
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