Feinstein Replacement Will Not Run for Re-election

Well, the race for Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) seat in 2024 just got a lot more interesting.

Laphonza Butler, who was appointed to the seat by Governor Newsom after Feinstein died, has announced that she will not run for re-election.

This opens the door for Reps. Schiff and Porter, who are the two leading candidates in the most recent polling.

Dreams Shattered

Governor Newsom and the Democrat Party want a black woman in that seat, which is why Newsom appointed Butler, who actually lived in the DC area at the time of her appointment.

Make no mistake about it, that appointment was a payoff for the work Butler did as a political consultant for numerous Democrats, including Newsom and Kamala Harris.

With Butler dropping out of consideration, this now puts the focus back on Schiff and Porter, who are running laps around the field.

Most people, including myself, thought Rep. Barabara Lee (D-CA) would be the frontrunner, but voters are not finding her to their liking.

Schiff leads current polling with 20%, followed by Porter at 15%, then Lee is a distant third at 8%. There is only one other Democrat in the race, so even if they drop out and Lee gobbled up all their support, she would still fall short.

This will wind up being a Schiff-Porter runoff, and it kills me to think that Schiff will now be sitting in the Senate.

As far as Butler is concerned, she just does not want to keep the seat, period. She stated, “I know it’s surprising — folks don’t traditionally see people who have power let it go, but this is a moment where I’ve had to mind my own truth and hold it in my own heart.”

My guess is that she did not like her life getting ripped apart over the last month, so she will go back to her cushy job pushing candidates that support pro-abortion legislation.