Laphonza Butler on Future Plans: 'I Am Figuring That Out'

CHICAGO — Of the hundreds of elected officials gathered in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, few have worked with the party’s nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, more intimately than California Sen. Laphonza Butler.

Their relationship dates back to Harris’ first run for Attorney General in 2010, when Butler led a powerful union of long-term care workers, SEIU 2015, in support of Harris’ candidacy. When Harris launched a run for president in 2019, Butler served as a top adviser to the campaign.

Now, as Harris prepares to accept her party’s nomination for president, Butler told KQED’s Political Breakdown that she’s feeling a mix of pride and downright astonishment.

“To now have a woman who I know, who has known my daughter her entire life, who every day is an example of what is possible for not just my daughter, but California, what’s possible for our country — is something that I don’t know that will fully set in until November,” Butler said.

In a wide-ranging interview, Butler expressed confidence in Harris’ ability to navigate the war in Gaza and left open the possibility of joining a potential Harris administration.

One thing is clear: Butler seemed to have no regrets about her decision to leave the Senate when her term finishes in January — and not run to hold the seat she was appointed to by Gov. Gavin Newsom following the death of Dianne Feinstein.

“That’s not what I want to do with my life,” Butler said. “We can’t go and tell our daughters that they can be anything that they want to be and then try to make someone else be the thing that we want them to be. I just don’t want to do it.”

During her brief tenure in the Senate, Butler said she has focused on seeking common ground on issues that connect California with states represented by Republicans. Butler said she hopes to transcend California’s liberal image by connecting red-state senators “with the part of California that means something to them.”

“We’re losing insurance coverage in California for our family homeowners, and the same is true in Louisiana and Oklahoma and Florida,” Butler said. “Our farmers are trying to find ways to make sure that they are able to water … their crops. That is true for Iowa and Kansas.”

On perhaps the most high-profile issue to come to the Senate floor during her tenure, Butler voted in favor of a bipartisan border security deal that added border funding and new immigrant visas — but also curtailed America’s asylum system.

In the process, Butler broke with California’s other Democratic Senator, Alex Padilla, who said the asylum limits would put the country in conflict with international obligations and throw the border into chaos. Butler said the issue will remain “extremely challenging” for the next administration and Congress.

“We have got to make sure that we are electing leaders who can both tell the truth about the challenge of migration that’s happened at our borders and see the value and contribution that immigrants make to our country and to our economy,” she said.

Six days after Butler was sworn into the Senate, Hamas launched its attack against Israel. Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza and the ongoing war has loomed over Butler’s tenure in Washington; just months into the job, she faced protesters who urged her to call for a cease-fire.

Speaking in Chicago as thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched toward the convention arena, Butler said Harris is well-positioned to lead efforts toward peace in the region.

“I think the vice president has been louder than a whole lot of folks in Washington about the need to get to a cease-fire,” she said.

“Honestly, getting to a cease-fire isn’t going to happen at this convention,” Butler said. “What we’re here to do at this convention is to nominate the vice president as the Democratic Party nominee.”

“Because she shares the value set of so many of those activists, I think she’s also in the right place to be doing the work to actually bring the cease-fire to pass,” she said.

Should Harris win, it remains to be seen whether Butler will have a role in doing that work alongside her longtime confidant.

Asked about her future plans, Butler replied simply: “I am figuring that out.”