From a Wall Street Journal story by Christine Mai-Duc and Eliza Collins headlined “Gavin Newsom to Appoint Laphonza Butler to Fill Dianne Feinstein’s Senate Seat”:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is poised to appoint Emily’s List president Laphonza Butler to succeed the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Butler, a longtime labor leader in California, heads up the group, which funds female candidates who support abortion rights for office. She would become the first openly gay U.S. senator from California, and only the second Black woman to represent the state in the Senate. She is expected to be sworn in as early as this week.
Butler’s appointment could dramatically alter the Senate race already under way for the seat in 2024.
Feinstein, who died Thursday, had previously announced she would retire at the end of her 2024 term. Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee were all running for the seat in an expensive and competitive race. It wasn’t immediately clear if Butler would run for a full term, but there were no conditions set by Newsom that she sit out the race. Democrats are heavily favored to keep control of the seat.
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