1. Laphonza Romanique Butler is an American labor union official and former politician who served as a United States senator from California from 2023 to 2024.
26 Facts About Laphonza Butler
1. 2.
On October 1,2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom chose Laphonza Butler to fill the United States Senate seat left vacant by the death of Dianne Feinstein, becoming the first openly LGBT African American to serve in the Senate.
3.
Laphonza Butler was born on May 11,1979, in Magnolia, Mississippi, the youngest of three children.
4.
Laphonza Butler's father died of heart disease when Butler was 16 years old.
5.
Laphonza Butler graduated as a salutatorian from South Pike High School in 1997.
6.
Laphonza Butler earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Jackson State University in 2001.
7.
Laphonza Butler began her career as a union organizer for nurses in Baltimore and Milwaukee, janitors in Philadelphia, and hospital workers in New Haven, Connecticut.
8.
Laphonza Butler was elected president of the California SEIU State Council in 2013.
9.
Laphonza Butler undertook efforts to boost California's minimum wage and raise income taxes on the wealthiest Californians.
10.
Laphonza Butler was one of California's electors who voted for Clinton in the 2016 election.
11.
Laphonza Butler resigned from her role as regent in 2021.
12.
Laphonza Butler joined SCRB Strategies, a California-based political-consulting firm, as a partner in 2018.
13.
Laphonza Butler has been a political ally of Harris's since the latter's first run for California Attorney General in 2010, when she helped Harris negotiate a shared SEIU endorsement in the race.
14.
Laphonza Butler advised Uber in its dealings with organized labor while at SCRB, at a time when Uber was attempting to stop state legislation from classifying its drivers as employees.
15.
Laphonza Butler left SCRB in 2020 to join Airbnb as director of public policy and campaigns in North America.
16.
In 2021, Laphonza Butler was named the third president of EMILY's List.
17.
Laphonza Butler was the first black woman and first mother to lead the organization.
18.
In February 2022, Laphonza Butler joined the board of directors of Vision to Learn.
19.
On October 1,2023, Newsom chose Laphonza Butler to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Feinstein's death, fulfilling his pledge to appoint a black woman.
20.
Laphonza Butler was selected despite not being a resident of California, as she had moved to Maryland in 2021.
21.
Shortly before nominating Laphonza Butler, Newsom announced that his nominee would be free to run in 2024 if that person so chose, a departure from his previous position.
22.
When she was sworn in on October 3,2023, Laphonza Butler became the first openly lesbian Black woman in Congress, the first openly LGBT member of the US Senate from California, and its first openly LGBT Black member.
23.
Laphonza Butler made her first floor speech on January 17,2024.
24.
In January 2024, Laphonza Butler voted for a resolution proposed by Bernie Sanders to apply the human rights provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act to US aid to Israel's military.
25.
Laphonza Butler resigned from the Senate on December 8,2024, and was succeeded by Adam Schiff, who in November 2024 was elected both to complete the remaining weeks of Feinstein's Senate term and to the new Class 1 Senate term beginning in January 2025.
26.
Laphonza Butler is a lesbian, and she and her wife, Neneki Lee, have a daughter.