Sen. Laphonza Butler’s path from behind the scenes to front-and-center political leader

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Oct. 17. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• Sen. Laphonza Butler’s path to the Senate
• Jewish-Palestinian couples deal with war
• Nine concert film favorites to watch
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

From behind the scenes to front-and-center politician

California’s U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler is two weeks into the job and has kept busy, though she’s working remotely this week after announcing she tested positive for the cornonavirus.

It’s been a whirlwind several weeks for state and national politics after the death of 90-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein in late September. Butler was tapped by Gov. Gavin Newsom to finish out the longtime senator’s term.

Butler, 44, spent years working as “a behind-the-scenes operative” in California politics, Times reporters Noah Bierman, Taryn Luna, Matt Hamilton and Seema Mehta wrote. But now she’s front and center as one of the Golden State’s leading politicians. And as my colleagues report, it’s not clear yet if she’ll serve out the next 15 months and then move on — or if she aims to make her appointed seat an elected one.

Most recently, Butler led the Democratic group Emily’s List, which aims to elect pro-choice women to office. A look at her political path could help Californians understand how she intends to approach the job — whether short-term or long-haul. That path began in California in 2009 and her ascent was “rapid,” Times reporters explained:

Butler, who grew up in Mississippi, graduated with a degree in political science in 2001 and soon took a job organizing with SEIU. She spent the next several years moving up through the organization, eventually leading the local SEIU ULTCW (United Long Term Care Workers Union) in Los Angeles.

The following years saw her make some key political allies, including Mark Ridley-Thomas, Newsom and Kamala Harris, whom Butler aided in her campaigns for attorney general and later president.

Her record of advocating for labor issues and championing workers’ rights was later clouded by controversy. In 2018, Butler joined a political consulting firm and advised ride-hail giant Uber during contentious negotiations with drivers over their job protections and status as contractors. Some felt betrayed by Butler’s role in the talks.

“Laphonza has her own path that started solidly in labor and then switched sides to one of the worst labor violators in the world,” Nicole Moore, president of Rideshare Drivers United, told The Times. “You can’t do that. I mean, what are your principles then?”

After that, Butler took a job with Airbnb, also a controversial decision given the company’s perceived danger to hotel union workers. But a year later, she moved on to lead Emily’s List.

Some union leaders have come to her defense, though.

“We should all focus on her years in the trenches with workers,” Tia Orr, state SEIU director, told my colleagues. “And the life-changing victories she championed to lift up the most marginalized workers in the country — not a short stint on her resume.”

So, given her political connections and history of organizing in California, will she run in 2024?

“I have no idea. I genuinely don’t know,” Butler told The Times the day before she was sworn in by Harris on the Senate floor. “I want to be focused on honoring the legacy of Sen. Feinstein. I want to devote my time and energy to serving the people of California. And I want to carry her baton with the honor that it deserves.”

She’d be up against California Democrats with some name recognition: Reps. Adam B. Schiff of Burbank, Katie Porter of Irvine and Barbara Lee of Oakland.

As The Times’ Mehta, Hamilton and Benjamin Oreskes recently reported, Butler’s slate of meetings across the state “suggested a candidate in waiting, quietly maneuvering for a future campaign — not a caretaker gliding through the final year of Feinstein’s term.”

For the moment, Butler is in pondering mode. And based on her busy first week of meetings with labor groups, prominent Democratic donors and other political advocates, there’s a lot to ponder.

Today’s top stories

Lana Khoury and Jon Greene are a Palestinian-Jewish couple living in San Diego.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

• How Jewish-Palestinian couples cope with a war that hits too close to home.
• ‘I need to ask God why.’ In Israel and Gaza, the scale of death overwhelms the living.

Politics

• A judge grants a gag order in Trump’s 2020 election case.
• President Biden agrees to settle ACLU lawsuit over Trump-era migrant family separations.
• Adam Schiff outpaces Barbara Lee and Katie Porter in fundraising for the California Senate race.

Crime

• Threatening emails sent to Los Angeles schools are similar to bomb threats received in Europe.
• Hells Angels got rid of bodies at a Fresno funeral home known as the ‘pizza oven,’ feds say.
• The head of a celebrity-fronted travel company confronts fraud claims.

Sports

• Blame galore in Chargers loss to Dallas but Justin Herbert is the guy paid to rescue wins.
• Baseball approved as a 2028 L.A. Olympic sport, but will MLB stars go for gold?
• A real life Ted Lasso? Pat Noonan has been a miracle worker for FC Cincinnati.
• Shav Glick, longtime L.A. Times motorsports writer, was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
• The Lakers’ depth is paying off this preseason with all the injuries.

More big stories

• IRS postpones the tax deadline again for most Californians.
• Mid-October heat wave rises in Southern California, increasing the fire risk.
• Are speed cameras California’s answer to rising traffic deaths?
• What you should know about a new federal policy that allows you to finance for an ADU.
• Churches could be key for quake survival, an expert says.
• ‘They’ve never seen anything like this’: Their DIY garden is inspiring the block.
  

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Commentary and opinions

• Michael Hiltzik: How the Supreme Court could kill a wealth tax before it’s been tried.
• Opinion: 9/11 offers awful lessons for what could happen with a Gaza ground invasion.
• Helene Elliott: The Ducks go mighty on the nostalgia and showcase a promising future in home opener.
• Editorial: Should L.A. care about salt in New Orleans’ tap water? Yes. Here’s why.
• Column: The former Oscars diversity chief on ‘micro- and macro-aggressions’ that led to her exit.

Today’s great reads

(Axel Rangel García / For De Los )

Traitor, ghost and feminist icon: Reclaiming the stories of La Llorona. Whether La Llorona is held up as a form of resistance against oppression, owning her power or reclaiming the monstrous bruja within, the narratives of the wailing woman have endured for centuries, reimagined into a radical icon.

Other great reads

• I’m in the garden, watering my garden. Everything is going to be just fine.

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For your downtime

(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• 🌸 Glue beads to trash, talk about your feelings. This is the way to craft joy.
• 🎭 The decor in ‘The Engagement Party’ — on stage at Geffen Playhouse — is sharper than its wit.
• 🎢 Planning an epic visit to Disneyland and California Adventure? Here’s our great, big highly specific guide.

Staying in

• 📖 Latina comedian Aida Rodriguez tackles the shame of ‘illegitimacy’ in a new memoir.
• 💔 Is it ever OK to date your friend’s ex? In ‘Love Is Blind,’ it’s a mess.
• 📺 9 concert film favorites to watch now that you’ve seen Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour.’
• 🍜 Here’s a recipe for California heat spicy peanut noodles.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

And finally ... a great photo

Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.

Joshua Tree National Park.

(Marcy Person)

Today’s great photo is from Marcy Person of Dana Point: Joshua Tree National Park. Marcy writes:

Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Elvia Limón, multiplatform editor
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Laura Blasey, assistant editor

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