• On October 1, Newsom announced he would appoint Butler to the Senate to complete the remainder of Feinstein’s term following her death. The term ends in January 2025, and Butler is able to run for the seat again in 2024 if she so chooses. [The New York Times, 10/1/23]
• Butler was officially sworn in to the U.S. Senate by Vice President Kamala Harris on October 3. Butler is now the third Black woman to serve in the history of the Senate. [The Associated Press, 10/3/23]
• Butler recently served as the president of EMILY’s List, a political action committee that supports Democratic women in favor of abortion rights, but she previously worked in California politics for years. Though Butler moved to Maryland to lead EMILY’s List, she has long ties to California as a homeowner in the state and is soon expected to re-register to vote in the state before her swearing-in. [CNN, 10/2/23; The Associated Press, 10/2/23]
• In the past, Butler has worked in California labor organizing and political consulting. Butler previously served as the president of SEIU Local 2015, the largest union in California, and she was an adviser to Harris’ 2020 presidential run. [Los Angeles Times, 10/1/23]
• According to legal experts, Butler qualifies to represent California in the Senate as long as she resumes her residency there before assuming office. UCLA law professor Rick Hasen elaborated further on Butler’s eligibility based on previous legal precedent, writing, “9th Circuit case law says one must only be a resident upon assuming office, whether appointed or elected.” [Business Insider, 10/2/23; Twitter/X, 10/2/23]

• RedState: Newsom was “birthing an immediate scandal” by appointing “a Maryland resident to the seat.” RedState compared the situation to “the constant jabs that Mehmet Oz got from the press for previously living in New Jersey” during his failed 2020 run for Senate in Pennsylvania. [RedState, 10/2/23]
• The Gateway Pundit: “Newsom to Appoint Abortion Activist Laphonza Butler to Fill Feinstein’s Senate Seat – Who Lives In Maryland and Registered to Vote There Last Year.” The article added, “Laphonza Butler lives in Maryland and registered to vote there LAST YEAR!” [The Gateway Pundit, 10/1/23]
• Newsmax host Eric Bolling listed some of Butler’s history of public service in California, then asked: “Why not a Californian … to represent their own state?” Bolling noted that after Butler began working as a union organizer, “she moved to California, where she was instrumental in raising minimum wages and hiking taxes on wealthy Californians. She also served as a University of California regent for three years until she moved to Maryland.” [Newsmax, Eric Bolling The Balance, 10/2/23]
• The Gateway Pundit posted a second article attacking Butler for living in Maryland while ignoring her history in California. [The Gateway Pundit, 10/2/23]
• The Daily Wire: “Journalists online noted that Butler listed her state of residence on her X account as Maryland.” The article added, “EMILY’s List was already cleaning up their website to hide where Butler allegedly lives. The organization removed the following line from their website: ‘She lives in Maryland with her partner Neneki Lee and their daughter Nylah.’” [The Daily Wire, 10/1/23]
• The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro: “Congrats to the state of Maryland on finally obtaining three Senators.” [Twitter/X, 10/2/23]
• HotAir: “Meet California's new senator: Laphonza Butler of ... Maryland?” HotAir portrayed Butler as an out-of-state carpetbagger without a single mention of her extensive history in California, concluding: “We will apparently have our interests handled by, checks notes again for accuracy, Maryland’s Laphonza Butler. I’m sure she’ll represent California just fine, though…from 2,645 miles away.” [HotAir, 10/2/23]
• In a Townhall article titled “Here’s What's Odd About Newsom's Pick to Fill Feinstein's Vacancy,” the only “odd” thing mentioned was that “some are pointing out that Ms. Butler might be a Maryland resident.” [Townhall, 10/2/23]
• National Review emphasized that Butler “is a Maryland resident” without mentioning her history in California. National Review focused on the upcoming primary election for that Senate seat while continuing to portray Butler as having no association with California: “By naming an out-of-state resident, Newsom may have helped himself avoid the wrath of the Democrats who have already launched campaigns in the 2024 Senate primary. If they can’t defeat a Maryland resident in a California primary, they’ll really only have themselves to blame.” [National Review, 10/2/23]
• LifeNews: “Congratulations to Maryland on getting a third Senator, Laphonza Butler.” [Twitter/X, 10/2/23]

​​​​​​Many of these right-wing media comments falsely portrayed Democrats as supporting “on demand” abortion “up until the moment of birth.” But multiple fact checks by news organizations have explained that Democrats generally support abortion until fetal viability, with exceptions for the health of the person carrying the fetus and other extremely rare exceptions.

• Fox host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery: Butler is a “carpetbagging baby killer.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 10/2/23]
• TheBlaze: “Butler has made clear she seeks a uniformly Democratic state that guarantees women the legal ability to exterminate their offspring.” TheBlaze described EMILY’s List as “a leftist outfit that raises money to support prospective female lawmakers who will support the abortion agenda once in office.” The article also criticized Butler for speaking out against anti-abortion legislation nationwide. [TheBlaze, 10/2/23]
• Hugh Hewitt: “She is the president of EMILY’s List so she’s an abortion rights absolutist, left-wing, way out there, on demand, right up to the point of birth and maybe beyond.” Hewitt also said, “She’s a Black lesbian woman, which checks a couple of boxes for Gavin Newsom with the party’s activist base,” and twice mentioned that she currently lives in Maryland. [Salem, The Hugh Hewitt Show, 10/2/23]
• Ben Shapiro complained that Butler is “a lesbian Black woman who leads an organization devoted to abortion.” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 10/2/23]
• Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America: Newsom appointed “the biggest pro-abortion extremist he could find.” The anti-abortion organization concluded its press release objecting to Butler’s appointment by writing: “The last thing Washington needs is another rubber stamp for the brutal abortion industry.” [Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, 10/2/23]
• LifeSiteNews criticized Butler as an “abortion activist” and claimed that EMILY’s List “is actually a pro-abortion group that opposes any limits on the killing of preborn children up until the moment of birth.” [LifeSiteNews, 10/2/23]
• LifeNews: “Democrats are the party of abortions up to birth. Joe Biden, Gavin Newsom, Laphonza Butler.” [Twitter/X, 10/2/23]
• Fox News contributor Guy Benson: “‘Butler currently lives in Maryland’ — but she’s fanatically devoted to activism on behalf of unlimited abortion, so that’s what matters most.” [Twitter/X, 10/2/23]
• National Right to Life attacked Newsom for appointing a “pro-abortion activist” to the Senate. The anti-abortion organization called the action “just another example in a long line of actions that Newsom has taken to push unlimited abortions.” [National Right to Life Committee, 10/2/23]
• Fox guest Chris Bedford: “Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been dead for 24 hours and they appoint a Black lesbian who has devoted her life to killing babies in the womb.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 10/2/23]

• RedState: Butler’s “only qualifications appear to be working on Kamala Harris' failed 2020 presidential campaign while being a ‘black lesbian.’” The author continued, “I’m just really glad we select the most powerful people in the country based on race and who they sleep with.” [RedState, 10/2/23]
• TheBlaze: “Extra to being an exponent of the abortion regime, Butler, a lesbian, is also an outspoken LGBT activist.” [TheBlaze, 10/2/23]
• Steven Crowder: “Laphonza Butler in Swahili means nothing. … Laphonza means nothing. It’s something that African Americans, Black Americans make up.” [YouTube, Louder with Crowder, 10/2/23]
• Newsmax host Rob Schmitt: “Laphonza Butler is a Black lesbian and is also a rabid, full-term abortion advocate. Now, whether or not she’s qualified for this, that doesn’t really matter.” Schmitt also said that Newsom’s “pandering” about appointing a Black woman to a vacant Senate seat “is just incredibly disappointing and incredibly insulting,” adding that the governor “certainly checked the box, not to mention a few others, when he appointed Laphonza Butler.” [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 10/2/23]
• Fox contributor Tammy Bruce: Butler’s appointment is “an insult to Black women who have served.” Bruce said: “This is a message to the far left, to Kamala perhaps. … It’s the height of identity politics, right? It’s like these boxes get checked. It’s an insult to Black women who have served, who continue to make a difference in this country, who’ve paid their dues. It is about the ultimate in politics, but this is all politics for us.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 10/2/23]