FILE - Laphonza Butler, President of EMILY's List, speaks during an event in Washington, Friday, June 23, 2023. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has named Butler to fill the U.S. Senate seat made vacant by Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Governor Gavin Newsom is filling the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the late Senator Dianne Feinstein. Newsom has tapped former Kamala Harris adviser Laphonza Butler to fill the seat. The governor had previously promised to fill Feinstein’s seat with an African-American woman should the seat become open. Butler is a Democratic strategist who had advised Harris’s presidential campaign. Feinstein died late last week at the age of 90 after a series of illnesses. She had previously said she would not run for re-election in 2024.