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Gavin Newsom has picked Laphonza Butler to fill Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has chosen Laphonza Butler to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the death of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, two sources familiar with the decision confirmed to CBS News.

Butler is the president of EMILYs List, an organization devoted to electing Democratic women who support abortion rights. Butler was the first woman of color to lead Emily’s List when she joined the organization in 2021. She previously served as a senior campaign adviser to Kamala Harris during her 2020 presidential campaign. She also served as director of public policy at Airbnb and has a long history as a labor leader.

Butler was not immediately available for comment.   

Feinstein, who was 90 years old, had about 15 months left in her term at the time of her death last week. Butler’s speedy appointment will help bolster the Democrats’ narrow majority in the Senate as Congress continues to work on longer-term funding for the government after a last-minute deal temporarily averted a shutdown over the weekend.

Politico first reported Butler’s appointment. 

EMILYs List President Laphonza Butler
EMILYs List President Laphonza Butler on March 7, 2023.

Araya Doheny/Getty Images for EMILYs List


Earlier this month on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Newsom said he would abide by his pledge to appoint a Black woman to Feinstein’s post, while adding that he hoped he’d never have to make that decision. But Newsom also said he wouldn’t fill the seat with one of the Democrats vying to succeed Feinstein in the 2024 election, calling such a move “completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off.” 

There is no precondition that this must be a temporary replacement, so Butler could run for a full term in 2024. Complicating matters, in addition to next year’s scheduled Democratic Senate primary, a special election is expected to be held for California voters to choose who finishes out the last few months of Feinstein’s term.

Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Katie Porter are among those who jumped into the 2024 race after Feinstein announced earlier this year that she would not run again. It was not immediately clear if any of them, or Butler, would also enter the expected special election for the remainder of Feinstein’s term.

In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Lee said, “I wish @LaphonzaB well and look forward to working closely with her to deliver for the Golden State. I am singularly focused on winning my campaign for Senate. CA deserves an experienced Senator who will deliver on progressive priorities. That’s exactly what I’m running to do.”

Schiff and Porter have not reacted yet.





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UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell says Gaza is a “hellscape for children”

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UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell says Gaza is a “hellscape for children” – CBS News


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UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell tells “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that the malnutrition, hygiene and mental health for children in Gaza is “all terrible,” adding that it’s a “hellscape for children.”

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Sen. Mark Kelly says feds need to do a “better job” of letting Americans know “there’s a huge amount of misinformation” on election

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Washington — Sen. Mark Kelly said Sunday that the federal government needs to do its part to inform Americans of the vast swath of election misinformation that’s being consumed on social media platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.

“It’s up to us, the people who serve in Congress and in the White House to get the information out there, that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation in this election, and it’s not going to stop on Nov.  5,” Kelly said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” 

Kelly, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he’s seen these misinformation operations target not only his state of Arizona, but also other battleground states.

“There is a very reasonable chance I would put it in the 20 to 30% range, that the content you are seeing, the comments you are seeing, are coming from one of those three countries: Russia, Iran, China,” Kelly said.

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Sen. Mark Kelly on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Oct. 6, 2024.

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In a committee hearing last month on foreign threats to the 2024 election, Kelly presented screenshots of Russian-made web pages showing fabricated headlines designed to look like Fox News and The Washington Post, targeted at voters in battleground states. 

“So my constituents in Arizona and others — they seek to influence the outcome of these elections, and that is absolutely beyond the pale,” Kelly said at the Sept. 18 hearing. “We’ve got to do something about it.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump each have the support of 49% of Arizona voters, according to CBS News’ battleground tracker as of Sept. 30. 

In another battleground state, Pennsylvania, Trump returned Saturday to hold a rally in Butler three months after an attempted assassination on him. He was joined by members of his own party and billionaire Elon Musk, who said Trump was the only way to preserve democracy and warned of a last election if he does not win in November. 

Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Kelly called the social media mogul a hypocrite. 

“He’s standing next to the guy that tried to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, saying that this is somehow going to be the last election and they’re going to take away your vote,” Kelly said. “And you know, it just doesn’t pass the logic test.”

At the White House press briefing on Friday, President Biden – speaking from the podium for the first time since taking office – said he’s confident of a free and fair election but alluded to the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol in his concerns on whether it will be a peaceful transfer of power.    

“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn’t like the outcome of the election were very dangerous,” Mr. Biden said. “If you notice, I noticed that the vice-presidential Republican candidate did not say he’d accept the outcome of the election, and they haven’t even accepted the outcome of the last election.”



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Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie says Iran is the country that’s in a corner

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Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie says Iran is the country that’s in a corner – CBS News


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Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, tells “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that “Iran is the country that’s in a corner” in the conflict in the Middle East, and says the “Israelis are certainly going to hit back.”

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