California’s U.S. Senate seat is on the ballot twice — but new Sen. Laphonza Butler isn’t one of the candidates vying for the spot.
Butler, a former labor leader and Democratic strategist, was appointed to the seat after Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death in September 2023. When she was sworn in on Oct. 3, Butler became only the third Black female senator in history.
At the time of her appointment, the race for the seat was already a crowded one that included Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff of Burbank, Katie Porter of Irvine and Barbara Lee of Oakland. (Former Dodgers star Steve Garvey would announce his Republican candidacy later in October.)
Instead of joining the field, Butler, 44, opted not to run for a full term. And since voters were tasked with the selection of someone to serve out the remainder of Feinstein’s term, Butler will be replaced when a winner in that race is certified in November.
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“Knowing you can win a campaign doesn’t always mean you should run a campaign,” Butler said in a statement in early October. “I know this will be a surprise to many because traditionally we don’t see those who have power let it go. It may not be the decision people expected, but it’s the right one for me.”
Butler said she made the decision after thinking about “what kind of life I want to have, what kind of service I want to offer and what kind of voice I want to bring forward.”
During her time in office, thus far, Butler has focused on immigration and voting rights. She led a Senate Judiciary subcommittee earlier this month in Montgomery, Alabama, that probed instances of voter suppression and explored the need for stronger federal protections for minority voters, according to her office.
Seeing double
There were technically two races on the ballot: There’s the regular Senate race for a six-year term and a special one to serve out the remainder of Feinstein’s term, which ends in January 2025.
That means Butler will only serve in the seat until November, when a new senator is declared the winner of the partial term.
While it’s likely that the same person will win both spots, voters could, theoretically, choose one person to serve for just two months and elect someone else for the six-year term. Not every candidate, you may have noticed on your ballot, ran for both the partial, unexpired term and the full six-year term.
Ripple effect
Before her death, Feinstein, a stalwart in the U.S. Senate, had already announced her retirement, giving fuel to the clamoring of Democrats who hoped to succeed her.
Three prominent California representatives jumped into the race — Lee, Porter and Schiff — opening up three congressional spots.
Porter’s seat, in particular, is being eyed by both national Republican and Democratic parties as a potential determiner of just who picks up the speaker’s gavel next year. Porter eeked out a reelection bid in the 47th congressional district in 2022, beating her Republican challenger by 3.4%. Of registered voters in the district, 35.4% are Democrats, 34.6% are Republicans and 23.7% are no party preference, according to the latest data from the secretary of state’s office.
Like CA-47, the 30th congressional district seat has also begotten a bevy of candidates vying to replace Schiff. But it’s likely to remain in Democratic hands. Democrats account for 54.3% of registered voters in that district, along with 23.2% no party preference voters and 16.4% Republicans, according to the secretary of state’s office.
In all, 15 candidates (12 Democrats, two Republicans and one no party preference) are on the ballot in CA-30.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.