California Senator Laphonza Butler won't seek new US Senate term next
year
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[October 20, 2023]
By Sharon Bernstein
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Newly appointed California Senator
Laphonza Butler, a Democrat, said on Thursday she will not seek a new
U.S. Senate term next year.
Butler, a former labor organizer and political fundraiser who was tapped
earlier this month to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Oct. 1,
said instead she would focus on the time left in her appointed position,
just over a year. |
U.S. Senator Laphonza Butler (D-CA) is congratulated by new colleagues
from the Congressional Black Caucus after being sworn in as the newest
member of the caucus in front of the statue of civil rights leader Rosa
Parks in Statuary Hall, shortly after Butler was sworn in to fill the
U.S. Senate vacancy caused by the recent death of U.S. Senator Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA), at the Capitol in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2023.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo |
Her
decision relieves a potential political problem for California
Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, who had said he would not
take sides in a crowded field of candidates seeking the seat.
"Knowing you can win a campaign doesn't always mean you should
run a campaign," Butler said on social media platform X,
formerly known as Twitter. "I know this will be a surprise to
many because traditionally we don't see those who have power let
it go."
Among Democrats seeking to replace Feinstein in heavily
Democratic California are Congressional representatives Adam
Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee. Former baseball star Steve
Garvey is running as a Republican.
Butler was welcomed by many as first openly lesbian Black U.S.
Senator, but her appointment also drew criticism because she had
never held elective office and was not living in the state.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; additional reporting by Kanishka
Singh and Paul Grant; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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