What Laphonza learned in a ‘foreign land’

Presented by Food & Water Action: Inside the Golden State political arena

Dec 09, 2024 View in browser   By Melanie Mason and Dustin Gardiner Presented by  California Sen. Laphonza Butler will leave office today, after Adam Schiff is sworn in to finish the final weeks of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein's term. | Francis Chung/POLITICO THE BUZZ: LAPHONZA LOOKS BACK — Today marks the start of the Sen. Adam Schiff era, as the newly-elected junior senator takes the oath of office to finish the final weeks of the late Sen. Dianne Feinsein’s term And that means Sen. Laphonza Butler’s year-and-change tenure in the Senate is coming to an end — an improbable chapter for the California political veteran who went from behind-the-scenes power broker to public figure, after Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed her to the Senate days after Feinsten’s death. It was a short stint, but certainly not boring. From the whirlwind appointment to watching her longtime political ally Kamala Harris suddenly become the Democratic presidential nominee (and serving as co-chair to that unsuccessful campaign), Butler’s brief tenure was an unusually newsy one. Butler held her final Los Angeles open house last month, regaling the friendly crowd with anecdotes of being the only Black woman in the Senate (and the third in its history) and how the calcified institution can seem like, in her words, “a foreign land.” Afterward, she chatted with Playbook about lessons learned from her tenure and the election, and why she won’t be coming back to California in the immediate future. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity. PLAYBOOK: This was the first time you were put front and center in the role of elected official. You had told me once that was never something that had spoken to you. Did you  like it more than you anticipated? BUTLER: No. Look, the thing that has given me the most energy in whatever role that I did was the people that I got to do it with and for. And so it doesn't matter to me what the position is or what the role is, as long as I'm clear about who I get to do it with and I know for whom I am doing it. I didn't fall in love with the process of being a legislator. I didn't fall in love with the trappings of thinking that I'm a celebrity of some sort. What I love are the people of California, what I love are the people of this country. PLAYBOOK: What would your advice be to Sen-elect Schiff, to Governor Newsom – to anybody who has a stake in this – of how they should be thinking about these next four years as leaders of the resistance, leaders of California and what's the balance? BUTLER: Look, both of those guys, and probably any elected official, save those who just got elected for the first time two weeks ago, have way more experience at this than I do. So I recognize and appreciate that they don't necessarily need the advice of a 13-month tenured senator. I don't believe Gov. Newsom was elected to be the governor of the resistance. I don't believe Sen.-elect Schiff was elected to be the senator-elect of of the resistance. I hope that the lesson from any of this is a reminder for all of us that we are public servants, that we are here to serve the people who send us. And the governor of California has to be the governor of all of California. I went to the United States Senate overnight, and one of the first pieces of work that I did was with Chuck Grassley. One of the biggest pieces of legislation that I hope to be able to bring to a close is with Senator Katie Britt, introducing mental health legislation with Lisa Murkowski, getting Susan Collins to vote for one of my judges when Joe Manchin didn't… PLAYBOOK: Sure, but you were just a co-chair of a campaign that was saying Trump is a fascist, he is a threat to democracy. So that seems to be this inherent tension or contradiction now where you're saying, look for opportunities of cooperation with his party. But can you cooperate with a fascist? BUTLER: One, being a co-chair of the campaign is not telling the candidate how to answer a question. Two, I am acknowledging that there is an inherent tension and that as elected officials, as public servants, we don't get to choose either/or. That what we must choose is both/and. There are values that are essential to the function of our democracy. And there are challenges that California farmers and Iowa farmers and Kansas and Oklahoma farmers face too. So let's figure out a way how to address those things without compromising the values that we have. To offer that there is that we must choose one or the other, I just think it's a false choice PLAYBOOK: Are you staying in DC for the foreseeable future? BUTLER: [My daughter] just started fourth grade. I'm not gonna snatch her out of fourth grade, that's for sure. I definitely am gonna be there until she's done with this school year, and we'll figure it out after that. But you know, the whims of my life shouldn't interrupt hers. GOOD MORNING. Happy Monday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at ‪916-562-0685‬‪ — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@politico.com and tkatzenberger@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @TylerKatzen. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.   A message from Food & Water Action: Will Gov. Newsom side with the oil and gas industry or Californians after the “worst gas leak in US history?" In 2015, the Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility released 100,000 tons of methane and toxic chemicals, endangering public health. Governor Newsom vowed to shut down Aliso Canyon, but his Public Utilities Commission appointees voted to expand it. The PUC will decide Aliso Canyon’s future on December 19th. Learn more.   CAMPAIGN YEAR Derek Tran, his wife, Michelle Nguyen, and their children onstage during an election night watch party in Garden Grove. | Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images IDENTITY POLITICS — Democrat Derek Tran’s background as the son of Vietnamese refugees was a crucial factor in his defeat of Republican incumbent Michelle Steel. As our Melanie Mason reports today, their battle for a swing House seat in Orange County took on a resonance far beyond a typical congressional race. The district includes Little Saigon, the capital of the worldwide Vietnamese diaspora, and it’s the first time the community will have a Vietnamese American representative in Congress. That was a crucial motivation for an older generation of refugees, who helped power the volunteer base of Tran’s campaign. “Before they pass, they feel that it's their mission to do whatever they can to put one of our own in Congress,” explained Christina Bich-Tram Le, a journalist and Tran supporter. Former Senate candidate Steve Garvey. | Damian Dovarganes/AP STRIKE OUT — Recently defeated Senate candidate Steve Garvey was not elected Sunday by the Classic Baseball Era voting committee to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The 16-member committee voted in two of the eight candidates on the ballot, Dave Parker and the late Dick Allen. Both players had careers that overlapped with Garvey's; Allen was his teammate with the 1971 Los Angeles Dodgers. At least 12 votes were needed to be elected; Garvey was listed in the group that received "five votes or fewer." This particular committee will next meet and vote in December 2027. — David Cohen   REGISTER NOW: As the 118th Congress ends, major decisions loom, including healthcare appropriations. Key focus: site neutrality. Can aligning hospital and clinic costs cut federal spending, reflect physician costs, and lower patient expenses? Join policymakers and providers to discuss.     STATE CAPITOL Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a Democrat from Orinda. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP TAKING ON TECH — State Attorney General Rob Bonta and Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan are set to unveil legislation today that would create more online safeguards for children. The proposal would require social media platforms to display labels that warn users of the technology’s mental health risks. Bauer-Kahan and Bonta will announce the measure during a morning news conference at a Boys & Girls Club in downtown San Francisco. Other speakers are expected to include James Steyer, CEO of the advocacy group Common Sense Media, and Rob Connolly, head of the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco. Bonta has previously said the warning label could be a pop-up window that appears whenever someone in California opens a social media platform. Their proposal, Assembly Bill 56, is slated to be one of the most controversial measures at the state Capitol next year, a session that’s already poised to heighten disagreements between some Democratic lawmakers and Silicon Valley lobbyists.   A message from Food & Water Action:   CLIMATE AND ENERGY CHARGING AHEAD — The jury is still out on whether lithium development at the Salton Sea will help the majority-Latino communities living in California's second-poorest county. We asked sociologists Manuel Pastor and Chris Benner, authors of a new book on the region, how they see things going — check out their insights in Friday's California Climate. TOP TALKERS Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from Silicon Valley. | John Shinkle/POLITICO KHANNA GOES THERE — Rep. Ro Khanna had a terse take on the killing of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, who was gunned down in Manhattan last week. During a Sunday interview with ABC “This Week” host Martha Raddatz, the Silicon Valley representatives said he condemns the violence, but wasn’t surprised by the outpouring of harsh reactions, including complaints about the insurance company. “Look, I as a congressperson had UnitedHealthCare deny a prescription for a nasal $100 pump spray, and I couldn’t get them to reverse this,” Khanna said, as reported by our colleague David Cohen. “So imagine what ordinary people are dealing with. The biggest denial comes when it’s cancer treatment. I mean, people are getting denied on cancer treatment.” Police have yet to catch or even identify the shooter, but authorities believe it was a targeted attack.   Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today.     COMEBACK KID — Former state Sen. Josh Newman is already planning a return to the Legislature after losing his recent reelection bid to a Republican, our Lindsey Holden reports. Newman has created a 2026 state Senate campaign account, and he confirmed to POLITICO he intends to run to succeed state Sen. Tom Umberg, an Orange County Democrat who’s terming out that year in Senate District 34. The former lawmaker, who lives in Fullerton and also previously represented a portion of Orange County, acknowledged he would need to move to live within Umberg’s district. But he noted much of it fell within the boundaries of his old district prior to redistricting. Newman said he could move to the new district while remaining in the same city. IMPERIAL FEAT — Political observers are still reeling over Republican Jeff Gonzalez flipping a state Assembly seat red in Imperial County. Democrats have a nearly 14-point voter-registration advantage in the heavily Lainto and rural district. Gonzalez’s win speaks to Republicans’ strong performance among voters of color across the state this past election cycle. But, as Anabel Sosa and Hailey Branson-Potts of the Los Angeles Times write, there were also unique factors that fueled his underdog victory, including Gonzalez’s alliances with many local Democrats. AROUND THE STATE Damage from the Airport Fire, which burned parts of Orange and Riverside counties in September. | AFP via Getty Images — The Airport Fire, which burned in Orange and Riverside counties in September, has led to about $400 million in liability claims. An Orange County public-works crew sparked the fire. (The Orange County Register) — Fresno’s new anti-camping ordinance took effect in September. But consistent enforcement has been difficult due to a lack of shelter beds. (The Fresno Bee) — Oakland’s solutions to address a massive budget deficit could include slashing funding for police overtime, a major blow to a city already grappling with high crime rates. (San Francisco Chronicle) — Palomar Health, one of the largest providers in San Diego County, is asking its lenders for a grace period due to a $165 million operating loss that could force the system into bankruptcy. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)   A message from Food & Water Action: Will Gov. Newsom side with the oil and gas industry or Californians after the “worst gas leak in US history?" In 2015, the Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility released 100,000 tons of methane and toxic chemicals. SoCalGas’ disaster forced thousands to evacuate their homes to avoid further exposure to cancer-causing benzene and other chemicals. SoCalGas took four months to seal the gas leak. Families near Aliso are still suffering the consequences. Instead of shutting it down like Gov. Newsom promised, the PUC allowed Aliso to expand by 3,000%, perpetuating the public health threat. Over 150 organizations have come together to call for a shutdown of Aliso by 2027, but the PUC is considering kicking the can down the road instead of protecting communities. Gov. Newsom and allies should stand with families, not SoCalGas’ profits. On December 19th, the PUC will decide the future of Aliso Canyon. Learn more.   PLAYBOOKERS BIRTHDAYS — Ashling Pearson Fielding at CallTime.AI … Walter Garcia in the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta …Google’s Cris Turner … BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Sunday): Cynthia Kaui of the San Diego Young Republicans … Ross Buckley of California Advisors, LLC … Eric Lopez in the office of Assemblymember Avelino Valencia … artist Sophia Narrett … Samantha Granville … Aaron Lerner ... Alex Oppenheimer … Long Ellis … Austin James … (was Saturday): Kassy Perry of Perry Communications Group … Lance Lewis of CMA …Suhail Khan … Kate Tummarello … Jason Winer … (was Friday): Daniel Boyarin ... Craig Newmark ... Chanan Tigay ... Susan Krevoy WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO’s California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form. CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here. Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Rebecca Haase to find out how: rhaase@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Dustin Gardiner @dustingardiner Tyler Katzenberger @TylerKatzen   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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