CA gov Newsom picks resident of MARYLAND to replace Feinstein as CA senator!!
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Text Drivers are Killers
Joe Biden - "Time to put Trump in the bullseye."
No he didn't. He has to pick a state resident.
Meet Laphonza Butler
By Eric Gustafson
3 October 2023
Punchbowl News
Following longtime Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death on Friday at the age of 90, Gov. Gavin Newsom moved quickly to fill her vacant seat.
His choice of Laphonza Butler, the president of EMILY's List, is a non-traditional and history-making one. She becomes the first openly gay black woman to serve in the Senate and will be the only black woman in the Senate when she is sworn in on Tuesday. Now the biggest question is whether she will enter the already-crowded fray for a full term in 2024 -- a race which has long been underway. In what amounts to a major concession, Newsom removed one of the biggest caveats he initially cited in his appointment criteria: that whomever he chose would only be an interim appointment, simply serving out Feinstein's final year.
Butler has yet to say whether she will stand for election in 2024, but we could know by the end of next week whether she is seriously considering it. The deadline to seek the California Democratic Party endorsement is October 13th. Another key date is December 8th, the filing deadline for the March 5th primary.
In many ways Butler is a surprising pick, and the announcement of her appointment caught even many at the influential pro-abortion rights group she leads by surprise, according to one source. She has been recently living in Maryland while overseeing EMILY's List, which backs pro-choice Democratic female candidates, but she does own a home in California and will be switching her registration from Maryland back to the Golden State.
Butler does have California ties. She previously led the state's SEIU Local 2015, which represents 325,000 nursing-home and long-term care workers in the state, and she was a top adviser to Kamala Harris. Perhaps most crucially, she was a partner at BearStar Strategies, the influential San Francisco-based political consulting firm that has long advised Newsom. Many of Newsom's other political appointments have also been within the BearStar family -- including Sen. Alex Padilla, whom he appointed in 2021 to succeed Harris, and Shirley Weber, whom he appointed to succeed Padilla as secretary of state. (Weber was mentioned by many as a possible pick in the hours after Feinstein’s death.)
But mounting a campaign in the country's largest and most expensive state will not be easy. In fact, Democrats we talked to noted that while Butler may have the option of running again, the practicality isn't there, given the abbreviated timeframe and the fact that Representatives Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee have long been running prominent campaigns.
"I do think it was savvy of Newsom to not require her to make a pledge or commitment not to run for the seat," said veteran Democratic strategist Garry South, who previously managed Gov. Gray Davis's races. "But I've run six statewide campaigns, and what I can tell you is that you cannot get a viable statewide campaign together in California in five months, particularly not when you have the holidays intervening."
"She's a political consultant. She knows exactly how to thread the needle if she needs to," another California Democratic strategist told us, but also noted that while she may get a "splash" now with the rollout, ultimately "no one knows who she is" and that ballots start going out in February 2024. Meanwhile, all three of the Senate frontrunners have much higher name identification than Butler can build in just a few short months and have built-in political and regional constituencies.
While Butler is a political strategist in her own right, and would certainly have fundraising connections, she has never held elective office. Some sources speculated to us that she could also face pushback for jumping into a contest that already has another prominent black woman who has been running for the better part of a year. A tweet from Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley on Monday seemed to mirror that sentiment.
She also has to contend with the fact that many prominent black leaders and organizations have already endorsed Lee. The Oakland congresswoman has been endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus, along with other influential black political leaders such as former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman to serve in the Senate; Georgia's Stacey Abrams; and South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and San Francisco Mayor London Breed are also backing Lee's campaign. It's hard to see any of those backers abandoning Lee, even if there is an unspoken generational concern penetrating the race after Feinstein's advanced age and health issues hobbled her in recent years. Lee is currently 77 years old, while Butler is 44.
Schiff and Porter, who are both white, appear to be the leading candidates in early polling and fundraising, and could both advance to the general election by finishing first and second in the state's all-party jungle primary. It was no accident that Schiff announced Monday that he had raised $6.4 million in the previous fundraising quarter that ended Saturday, bringing his cash on hand to $32 million. Schiff has many endorsements from the California delegation, most notably Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. At the end of June, Porter had almost $10.4 million in the bank compared to Lee's $1.4 million.
Lee had been one of the loudest voices pushing back on Newsom's parameters, writing after his comments on NBC's "Meet the Press" last month: "The idea that a black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election."
As black Democrats were pressuring Newsom to remove that criterion, it was clear they had Lee in mind. Over the weekend Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, wrote to Newsom urging him to appoint Lee. However, it is worth noting that, had Newsom chosen Lee, it would have created a vacancy in the U.S. House of Representatives. Given the fact that Democrats only trail House Republicans by five seats, a vacant Democratic seat could diminish their influence in a closely divided House.
But there are some perks that come with being the incumbent, even if you've been appointed. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) typically backs all incumbents, and they have done so before when there have been contested primaries. The last time was in 2014, when Brian Schatz had been appointed to succeed the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, who had made it clear he wanted Rep. Colleen Hanabusa to take his seat. While the DSCC did nominally back Schatz, they didn't spend any money on his behalf either -- given this wasn't going to be a competitive race in a general election (much like this California faceoff would be). The DSCC declined to say whether they would back Butler if she were to run for the seat.
Butler also has history on her side. Since 1990, 22 of the 34 Senate appointees have sought another term, and all but two have won their primaries. Most recently, Alabama's Luther Strange lost a 2017 primary runoff to the controversial Roy Moore, who went on to lose the seat. Other recent Democratic Senate appointees -- including Padilla in 2022 and Minnesota's Tina Smith in 2018 -- didn't face credible primary challengers.
Ultimately, this Senate race remains wide open. Last month's poll by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies showed Schiff leading the field with 20%, Porter at 17% and Lee at 7%. However, nearly a third of voters were also undecided. A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, also released in September, showed a similar breakdown: Schiff at 20%, Porter at 15% and Lee at 8%.
By Eric Gustafson
3 October 2023
Punchbowl News
Following longtime Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death on Friday at the age of 90, Gov. Gavin Newsom moved quickly to fill her vacant seat.
His choice of Laphonza Butler, the president of EMILY's List, is a non-traditional and history-making one. She becomes the first openly gay black woman to serve in the Senate and will be the only black woman in the Senate when she is sworn in on Tuesday. Now the biggest question is whether she will enter the already-crowded fray for a full term in 2024 -- a race which has long been underway. In what amounts to a major concession, Newsom removed one of the biggest caveats he initially cited in his appointment criteria: that whomever he chose would only be an interim appointment, simply serving out Feinstein's final year.
Butler has yet to say whether she will stand for election in 2024, but we could know by the end of next week whether she is seriously considering it. The deadline to seek the California Democratic Party endorsement is October 13th. Another key date is December 8th, the filing deadline for the March 5th primary.
In many ways Butler is a surprising pick, and the announcement of her appointment caught even many at the influential pro-abortion rights group she leads by surprise, according to one source. She has been recently living in Maryland while overseeing EMILY's List, which backs pro-choice Democratic female candidates, but she does own a home in California and will be switching her registration from Maryland back to the Golden State.
Butler does have California ties. She previously led the state's SEIU Local 2015, which represents 325,000 nursing-home and long-term care workers in the state, and she was a top adviser to Kamala Harris. Perhaps most crucially, she was a partner at BearStar Strategies, the influential San Francisco-based political consulting firm that has long advised Newsom. Many of Newsom's other political appointments have also been within the BearStar family -- including Sen. Alex Padilla, whom he appointed in 2021 to succeed Harris, and Shirley Weber, whom he appointed to succeed Padilla as secretary of state. (Weber was mentioned by many as a possible pick in the hours after Feinstein’s death.)
But mounting a campaign in the country's largest and most expensive state will not be easy. In fact, Democrats we talked to noted that while Butler may have the option of running again, the practicality isn't there, given the abbreviated timeframe and the fact that Representatives Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee have long been running prominent campaigns.
"I do think it was savvy of Newsom to not require her to make a pledge or commitment not to run for the seat," said veteran Democratic strategist Garry South, who previously managed Gov. Gray Davis's races. "But I've run six statewide campaigns, and what I can tell you is that you cannot get a viable statewide campaign together in California in five months, particularly not when you have the holidays intervening."
"She's a political consultant. She knows exactly how to thread the needle if she needs to," another California Democratic strategist told us, but also noted that while she may get a "splash" now with the rollout, ultimately "no one knows who she is" and that ballots start going out in February 2024. Meanwhile, all three of the Senate frontrunners have much higher name identification than Butler can build in just a few short months and have built-in political and regional constituencies.
While Butler is a political strategist in her own right, and would certainly have fundraising connections, she has never held elective office. Some sources speculated to us that she could also face pushback for jumping into a contest that already has another prominent black woman who has been running for the better part of a year. A tweet from Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley on Monday seemed to mirror that sentiment.
She also has to contend with the fact that many prominent black leaders and organizations have already endorsed Lee. The Oakland congresswoman has been endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus, along with other influential black political leaders such as former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman to serve in the Senate; Georgia's Stacey Abrams; and South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and San Francisco Mayor London Breed are also backing Lee's campaign. It's hard to see any of those backers abandoning Lee, even if there is an unspoken generational concern penetrating the race after Feinstein's advanced age and health issues hobbled her in recent years. Lee is currently 77 years old, while Butler is 44.
Schiff and Porter, who are both white, appear to be the leading candidates in early polling and fundraising, and could both advance to the general election by finishing first and second in the state's all-party jungle primary. It was no accident that Schiff announced Monday that he had raised $6.4 million in the previous fundraising quarter that ended Saturday, bringing his cash on hand to $32 million. Schiff has many endorsements from the California delegation, most notably Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. At the end of June, Porter had almost $10.4 million in the bank compared to Lee's $1.4 million.
Lee had been one of the loudest voices pushing back on Newsom's parameters, writing after his comments on NBC's "Meet the Press" last month: "The idea that a black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election."
As black Democrats were pressuring Newsom to remove that criterion, it was clear they had Lee in mind. Over the weekend Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, wrote to Newsom urging him to appoint Lee. However, it is worth noting that, had Newsom chosen Lee, it would have created a vacancy in the U.S. House of Representatives. Given the fact that Democrats only trail House Republicans by five seats, a vacant Democratic seat could diminish their influence in a closely divided House.
But there are some perks that come with being the incumbent, even if you've been appointed. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) typically backs all incumbents, and they have done so before when there have been contested primaries. The last time was in 2014, when Brian Schatz had been appointed to succeed the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, who had made it clear he wanted Rep. Colleen Hanabusa to take his seat. While the DSCC did nominally back Schatz, they didn't spend any money on his behalf either -- given this wasn't going to be a competitive race in a general election (much like this California faceoff would be). The DSCC declined to say whether they would back Butler if she were to run for the seat.
Butler also has history on her side. Since 1990, 22 of the 34 Senate appointees have sought another term, and all but two have won their primaries. Most recently, Alabama's Luther Strange lost a 2017 primary runoff to the controversial Roy Moore, who went on to lose the seat. Other recent Democratic Senate appointees -- including Padilla in 2022 and Minnesota's Tina Smith in 2018 -- didn't face credible primary challengers.
Ultimately, this Senate race remains wide open. Last month's poll by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies showed Schiff leading the field with 20%, Porter at 17% and Lee at 7%. However, nearly a third of voters were also undecided. A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, also released in September, showed a similar breakdown: Schiff at 20%, Porter at 15% and Lee at 8%.
ExpressLane
Verified User
Not a Californian.
ExpressLane
Verified User
A lot of people don't like liars.
You are what OU was for several years. It’s fun…and frustrating at the same time. We might get blasted by 30 this weekend against Texas (they’re really good…and I almost puked typing that) but I’m happy that we’re at least showing some defensive resistance nowadays.
cawacko
Well-known member
Considering where we were under Helton, I have absolutely zero complaints about Riley. He has made us relevant again and put us back in the playoff hunt. But from a national championship perspective, you are spot on. His defenses have always been his weak spots. He has a brilliant offensive mind but that doesn't always translate into teams that can win titles.
(And yes, your game should be a good one. You know Sark has never not lost four games in a season? Will this be the year he breaks through or will he revert back to the mean?)
Texas is good!
T. A. Gardner
Serial Thread Killer
It's spelled lawyers. I make the same mistake often...