Butler is a longtime ally of Kamala Harris. On October 1, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom chose Butler to fill the United States Senate seat left vacant by the death of Dianne Feinstein. Soon after taking office, she announced she would not run for a full term in the 2024 election. Adam Schiff was elected to succeed her.[1][2][3]
Butler joined SCRB Strategies, a California-based political-consulting firm, as a partner in 2018. At SCRB, she played a central role in Kamala Harris's 2020 presidential campaign. She 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.[7][13] Butler advised Uber in its dealings with organized labor while at SCRB,[14] at a time when Uber was attempting to stop state legislation from classifying its drivers as employees.[15] The New York Times reported that Butler "advised Uber on how to deal with unions like the Teamsters and S.E.I.U., and sat in on several face-to-face meetings between the gig companies and union representatives".[16] Butler left SCRB in 2020 to join Airbnb as director of public policy and campaigns in North America.[17][18]
In 2021, Butler was named the third president of EMILY's List. She was the first black woman and first mother to lead the organization.[19][7] In February 2022, Butler joined the board of directors of Vision to Learn.[20][21]
U.S. Senate
Appointment
Butler sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Old Senate Chamber in 2023. Butler's wife Neneki Lee (center) holds the Bible upon which Butler is taking the oath.
In February 2023, incumbent U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein announced she would not run for a sixth full term in the Senate in 2024. On September 29, 2023, she died at the age of 90. At the time of Feinstein's death, several prominent candidates had already announced campaigns for her seat, including U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, and Adam Schiff. California Governor Gavin Newsom had previously pledged to nominate a black woman to the office.[22]
On October 1, 2023, Newsom chose Butler to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Feinstein's death, fulfilling his pledge to appoint a black woman.[23][24] Butler was selected despite not being a resident of California, as she had moved to Maryland in 2021.[25] The United States Constitution requires only that senators be "inhabitants" of the state they represent.[25] Newsom's office said that Butler would re-register to vote in California before taking office as a senator.[26] Shortly before nominating Butler, Newsom announced that his nominee would be free to run in 2024 if they chose,[27] a departure from his previous position.[28] After being sworn in, Butler announced she would not seek election to a full Senate term[18] or run in the November 2024 special election for the final two months of Feinstein's term.[29]Adam Schiff won both elections.
When she was sworn in on October 3, 2023, Butler became the first openly lesbian Black woman in Congress,[30] the first openly LGBT member of the U.S. Senate from California, and its first openly LGBT Black member.[31][32]
Tenure
Butler made her first floor speech on January 17, 2024.[33] Since February 2024, she has read aloud from banned books on the Senate floor to bring attention to book banning.[34][35]
Butler is a lesbian, and she and her wife, Neneki Lee, have a daughter.[39] They moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, in 2021 when she assumed the presidency of EMILY's List,[40][41] while continuing to own a home in View Park, California, in Los Angeles County.[42] In October 2023, when Newsom appointed her to the Senate, she re-domiciled to that home and re-registered to vote in California.[42]
