From my rereadings of the United States and California constitutions, Newsom has an “Air Bud” defense to this:
The US Constitution only requires that persons *elected* to the Senate be from the same State; nothing about those *appointed*.
The California Constitution only requires that gubernatorial appointments to the Senate face voter approval within six months, nothing about residency.
41 comments
Honestly, I have more pressing concerns then whatever is going on in California.
You should google. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laphonza_Butler
*In 2009, she moved to California, where she organized in-home caregivers and nurses and served as president of SEIU United Long Term Care Workers, SEIU Local 2015.[*
She lived in california between 2009 to 2021.
It feels a little weird to me, but realistically, every senator ends up spending a lot, if not most, of their time in the DC area. It doesn’t make a huge functional difference to me if they already lived there to carry out their job. Whenever a senator from any state is re-elected, there’s a pretty good chance they were spending a very large chunk of their last term in Maryland, Virginia or DC and that doesn’t bother me, so I can’t really find a reason for this to.
She maintained ownership of a home there after relocating to MD in 2021. She’s relocated to CA and registered to vote there. It appears she’s met the technicalities required, carpetbagging isn’t new, appointments being controversial isn’t either. Republicans will probably protest and Democrats will probably shrug their shoulders.
He obviously didn’t want to be seen giving anybody an advantage in the upcoming senate primary.
I’d seen the legal analysis as you explained above, so her appointment certainly fits the letter of the law. Whether Californians and the other hopefuls for the spot like it, that’s their problem.
Not my circus not my clowns.
She lived here for years and apparently still has a house here. Only moved to the DC area in the last year or two when she took over Emily’s List. It would certainly be better if she were a permanent, full time resident of California but I don’t have a big concern that she doesn’t understand California enough to represent us.
Can you share where you’re reading that appointees need to face the voters within six months? [According to this document,](https://ocvote.gov/election-library/docs/vacancy.pdf) that only applies to vacancies in the House or the State Legislature.
yeah Maryland lets go!
now lets go for every senate seat!
but seriously as long she can manage the staff and knows what her constituents want
She’s as much a Californian as Hillary Clinton was a New Yorker, or Mitt Romney being a Utahn- er… whatever you call someone from Utah.
That seat is up for election right?
Picking someone from outside seems like an easy way to dodge any accusation of favoritism.
Just a guess though, I’m not really up on CAs internal workings much less butler specifically
It’s just as stupid as Florida Man Tommy Football serving as senator for Alabama.
Newsome has a good shot at being president in 2028. He is laying the groundwork now.
I don’t care about states at all, so whatever
Don’t give a shit.
She’s lived in California until recently. She was the President of the California SEIU and she was a regent for the University of California system.
I think she has enough links to Harris, Newsom, and the California Democratic party that she’s not a total outsider but she doesn’t have the deep roots and existing base of support that would make her a shoe in if she decides to run for reelection in the upcoming primary.
There’s no such thing as a carpetbagger in California.
She also owns a home there and I believe was the regent of a large California college.
She’s just as much of a resident as every other transplant.
She has substantial history in the state, and a physical address there. Non-story IMO
Pro union person who organized nurses. She sounds good to me. One more vote for fixing Healthcare and some kind of universal health and a voice for working Americans.
One thing to note is that Gov Newsom said that since we’re in election season, he would deliberately appoint someone who was not in the running for the seat so that the current candidates can continue to campaign for it.
Butler is meant to be a “caretaker” of the seat (in other words, a seat warmer) until one of the actual candidates gets elected to it.
So, I think appointing someone with an address here who technically meets the requirements, but is also relatively removed from the state and the current campaigns makes sense, even if it is weird.
She’s a Californian, an L.A. resident since 2009. Born in Mississippi, she may have spent a few months in Baltimore while she worked with labor organizers. Where is this shit coming from calling her a Marylander in order to try to delegitimize her? You are the second propaganda drone I’ve seen floating this turd. She maintains a second Maryland residence since she took over Emily’s list, but her home is L.A.
She lived in Cali tho
She currently doesn’t live in California. Would be nice if she did.
While she’s got a background in working with Unions, she’s put it to use in corporate settings where she fights against them.
Not a fan of the pick.
It’d probably be kinda fun to see how many people are ok with her who also made comments about Dr Oz living in NJ
My thoughts are that the governor of California gets to choose the senator and as long as he follows the state’s constitution then it’s fair.
She’s only a placeholder for a year anyway.
For reference, Mitt Romney was raised in Michigan, was governor of Massachusetts, and then senator from Utah. This stuff happens.
There were no other black, gay women in California.
Mitt Romney anyone?
She’s a longtime Californian with significant history in our politics. I would want her to move back here of course, but I don’t care where she happens to live right now.
Predictable and I already know I won’t like her at all
Don’t care too much. I think the idea of a state being a core part of someone’s identity to be antiquated.
I mean. I wouldn’t consider her a “Marylander”. She has lots of roots in CA and only moved here 2 years ago to lead an organization that’s based in DC. But between Cardin becoming chairman of the senate foreign relations committee and Wes Moore’s growing national profile I’m happy to see Maryland getting some more prominent figures on the national stage.
Her policies matter more to me than her identity, I don’t know anything about her except that she’s a Democrat
I think he threaded the needle of his promises and his current political situation. A black woman who was not already running to replace Feinstein so as to not give any of them the incumbency advantage. And a union leader after he just vetoed a pro-union bill.
I think we should establish a vice senatorial system where the candidate running names a running mate that does nothing but become senator when they die of being older than the dinosaurs. This will happen again, soon, and often.
An unelected senator, with power like Butler will have should be concerning to everyone.
She’s from Cali, fool.
Sounds like misrepresentation.
Don’t like her vote her out when the time comes
I don’t know who she is, but as long as she’s not voting some some insane stuff, it’s fine I guess. Not really happy with the most recent slate of Senator candidates.
Newsom said he’d choose a black woman to replace Feinstein if she died in office. Of all the black women in DCA, he couldn’t find ONE that was a current resident?
She changed her registration back to California and only moved to Maryland 2 years ago so this isn’t really an issue. She has resided in California for a dozen years or so.
If she didn’t change her registration back to California, I would take issue with that, I expect my representation to be Californians.
The 15th least populous state has a population of ~ 2 million, while CA has nearly 40 million. We’re not getting adequately represented in the Senate, no matter who our representative is.