California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced late Sunday that his plan is to nominate Emily’s List president Laphonza Butler as the successor to Dianne Feinstein who passed away last week aged 90.

The interim appointment will last until November 2024 at the latest. Feinstein planned to leave her post at the end of January 2025, when her term ended. In what will likely be the most expensive race for Congress in the country next year, three of California’s leading Democrats — Reps. Barbara Lee and Katie Porter, along with Adam B. Schiff – are engaged in a heated primary battle to win that seat. This appointment will help Democrats maintain control of the Senate.

Newsom announced his decision on X (formerly Twitter) Sunday night. He noted that Butler would make history by becoming the first Black lesbian openly serving in the U.S. Senate. He said that Laphonza had spent her career advocating for women, girls and working people.

Newsom stated in his statement that “she has always stood for what’s right, led with her heart and values and has always been a leader who has put her values and her heart before anything else.” I have no doubt that she will continue the work of Senator Feinstein and break down glass ceilings for Californians.

Butler’s labor connections are deep, having worked in various roles for decades. She was the President of SEIU Local 2015. This union represented 325,000 home care and nursing home workers in California. She was previously an SEIU International Vice President and led SEIU United Long Term Care Workers.

She has worked closely alongside key advisers for Newsom (D). She was a part of a firm called SCRB Strategies, now BearStar Strategies, in 2019 and 2020. The firm was founded by top Newsom consultants Ace Smith and Sean Clegg. Clients of the firm at that time included Newsom, and Sen. Kamala Harris before she was elected vice president. Butler has been a long-time ally of Harris. He helped her gain support from the unions during her campaign for California Attorney General.

Laphonza posted about her pride at becoming the first Black Lesbian to be president of Emily’s List. She will be joining a growing number of Congress members who are lesbian, bisexual, or gay when she is sworn into office.

Tammy Baldwin, a Democratic Senator from Wisconsin, became the first openly homosexual U.S. senator. When she was elected as a Senator in 2012, Sen. Kyrsten S. Sinema of Arizona became the first openly gay member of the Senate.

Newsom, widely considered a future White House candidate, has fulfilled his promise to appoint an African-American woman to the chamber he made back in 2021.

He made this pledge soon after appointing Alex Padilla as Harris’s replacement in the Senate as she was heading to Washington as vice president. Padilla was the first Latino Senator to represent California. Harris’s departure, however, meant that there were no Black women in the Senate. Butler will be only Black woman senator.

Newsom looked at some of California’s highest-ranking Black political figures as possible replacements, especially after Feinstein’s health began to decline in recent years.

The candidates under consideration were: Lee, who served in the House from 1998 to present and is the most senior African American woman to be appointed to the House Democratic Leadership; Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass, former congresswoman and speaker of the California State Assembly, and Secretary of State Shirley Weber whom Newsom named to replace Padilla by 2021.

Newsom was in a complex situation when Feinstein announced that she would not run for re-election. This accelerated the battle to replace Feinstein.

Newsom told his allies that, though Lee was initially a natural candidate for the position, he didn’t want to tip the scales unfairly in a race between three Democrats. In a recent NBC Interview, Newsom confirmed this thinking by saying he wouldn’t choose anyone who was already running to fill Feinstein’s seat.

Lee’s allies interpreted Newsom’s remarks on NBC as a statement that he intended to ask his appointees to take caretaking roles. People familiar with Newsom’s thinking say he did not make any such preconditions when he spoke with potential appointees.

His comment that he’d make an “interim” appointment angered allies who were on the left. They had urged him not to limit the ability of a Black woman in the Senate to run for a full term. Schiff, a White man, is widely considered the frontrunner in the race for the next California senator because he has a much higher fundraising total and more endorsements than his rivals.

Over the weekend, Newsom was under increasing pressure to select Lee even though this would upset many powerful Schiff allies. Schiff has many powerful supporters in California, including influential California Democratic donors who could be useful to Newsom if he ever wanted to run for the White House. Another is Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California (D), who was Schiff’s former House Speaker.

Steven Horsford of the Congressional Black Caucus, a Democrat in Nevada, wrote to Newsom Sunday to urge him to select Lee. He stated that Lee’s “unparalleled legislative record, her long-standing leadership within the Democratic Party, and her deep commitment to equality and justice cannot be matched.”

After the death of Feinstein was announced on Friday morning, many powerful liberal leaders, such as Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D. Washington), voiced their support for Lee.

Jayapal stated on X, formerly Twitter’s social media platform. “Nobody deserves a Senate appointment more than @BarbaraLeeForCA,” Jayapal.

“She has done the work & inspired millions. Why can a Black woman only be appointed as a caretaker when she seeks a position? Jayapal referred to Newsom’s appointment of Padilla as senator in 2020 and wrote that this standard was not used for his last appointment.

Newsom also had a smaller pool of candidates to choose from, as some close friends and allies of Lee said they would not accept an appointment if Lee was overlooked. Lee has strong ties with Bass, San Francisco mayor London Breed, and Los Angeles County supervisor Holly Mitchell. All three hold positions of power that they are committed to maintaining.

In a late-night statement, Lee wished Butler the best and said that she looked forward to working with her closely to “deliver the Golden State’s people.”

Lee said that she was “singularly focussed” on