PUBLIC PLAUDITS: Gov. Gavin Newsom this afternoon made his first public remarks since appointing Laphonza Butler to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
He said he didn’t discuss with Butler whether she would run for a full-six year term, as he liberally praised the former labor leader who has spent the last two years as president of the political fundraising group EMILY’s List.
Here’s what stood out from the governor’s comments:
1. Newsom said that he wasn’t not sure whether Butler would run for a full term next year, but that he didn’t condition the appointment on her serving on an interim basis until the 2024 elections.
“We didn’t have that conversation. I said, ‘This is up to you.’ That was the end of that conversation,” Newsom said.
The governor, who hasn’t endorsed in a field containing Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, did note qualities that include her idealism and perspective as a member of the LBGTQ community that would implicitly make Butler a strong candidate should she choose to run.
“I wouldn’t have appointed someone that I didn’t respect and admire and I couldn’t back up and vouch for,” he said.
2. Newsom talked about meeting Butler years ago, and said she “grilled” him on his plans for long-term care for older adults when he was running for governor, “and it changed me a little bit.”
“She has a deep sense of idealism and optimism about what she can do,” Newsom said. “I just think Laphonza Butler is uniquely positioned, simply the best person that I could find for this moment in this job.”
3. He also mentioned her age — a subject hanging over Congress after Feinstein died in office at 90.
“In some ways I can’t even make all of this up if I had to literally design from the mind of imagination — put pen to paper — someone I would like, including the time of life. She’s just 44 years old.”
4. The governor dismissed criticism from California Republicans, including Rep. Darrell Issa and Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher — who railed against Butler’s residency out of state.
Butler moved from California to a Maryland suburb of Washington two years ago when she became president of EMILY’s List. She planned to switch her voter registration from Maryland back to California upon being chosen, POLITICO’s Christopher Cadelago reported when he scooped the news of her appointment Sunday. Butler also still owns a home in California, something Newsom pointed to when quickly dismissing the criticism.
“She literally took that job, at EMILY’s List, and still has a house out here and reregistered. And we were transparent about that,” Newsom said.
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RAPID TURNAROUND: Butler will be sworn in to the Senate on Tuesday, less than 48 hours after Newsom announced her appointment to fill the seat left vacant by Feinstein’s death. The timing is critical because Democrats need every vote they can get in their slim 50-49 majority. The expedited swearing-in process reflects pressure on Democrats to approve judicial nominees in a gridlocked house, as did Newsom’s quick choice for the seat. Butler was originally slated to be sworn in on Wednesday.
FENTANYL BUST: Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced a large multi-agency bust in Los Angeles in which law enforcement arrested 27 people and seized over 70,000 fentanyl pills and hundreds of pounds of other narcotics in Harbor Gateway, a neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Police Capt. Brent McGuire said the operation targeted an unnamed criminal “nexus” that extended across the state as far as Tulare County. According to McGuire, this operation follows another police action conducted in conjunction with the FBI last March that targeted the same group.
California law enforcement seized almost 30,000 pounds of fentanyl in 2022, an almost 600 percent increase from 2021. The fentanyl epidemic in the U.S. pushed fatal drug overdoses up over 60 percent in California from 2020 to 2021 to just shy of 10,000. In 2021, more people were killed by fentanyl than car accidents in California. — Forest Hunt
ANOTHER BUTLER BACKER: The leader of the California Teachers Association, a force in organized labor, called Butler an “ally” of working people in a statement Monday, highlighting her union ties and status as the first Black lesbian to serve in the Senate. “CTA is proud to have worked with Laphonza Butler over recent years as a strong and impactful union organizer and labor leader representing health care workers and public employees,” President David Goldberg said. Butler was previously a leader within SEIU California and worked with Gov. Jerry Brown on policies including a state minimum wage increase and tax hikes for the wealthy.
NEW CITY: The experience of Mountain House, which became the newest Bay Area city when the first homes were sold in 2003, contains hard lessons for the “California Forever” project near Fairfield backed by tech investors. (San Francisco Chronicle)
ZERO BAIL: A court-imposed policy in Los Angeles County would allow some nonviolent defendants to go free without posting bail. But a dozen cities are pushing back. Lakewood, Palmdale and others on Friday filed a lawsuit seeking to temporarily block the controversial “zero-bail” policy. (Los Angeles Times)
CAMPING BANS: A rising share of Bay Area residents believe cities should prevent people who are homeless from living under bridges, on sidewalks and in parks because it’s a public safety and health issue, according to a new Bay Area News Group Poll. (The Mercury News)
