Laphonza Butler just arrived in the Senate, but she doesn’t plan to stay long

Sen. Laphonza Butler came to her job in Congress in an unusual way and quickly decided she wouldn’t stay.

Governor Gavin Newsom of California appointed Ms Butler in early October following the death of Senator Dianne Feinstein to serve the remainder of her term, which ends in 2025. The former president of Emily’s List, who once headed California’s largest labor organization, is not a candidate in the crowded Democratic primary for the 2024 nomination to permanently replace Ms. Feinstein.

Ms. Butler, 44, recently spoke to The New York Times from her Senate office about why she chose not to remain in Congress, where she hopes to focus her attention while there, and the unlikely areas where she has similarities found with some Republicans. .

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

You have been in office for about two and a half months now. What do you think?

It’s been a big change for me, a big change to have your life completely disrupted in about 24 hours. It has been a great honor, an incredible responsibility at this time for our country and for the world. And it was revealing in terms of time: how fast it goes and how slow it goes all at the same time.

The pace was the battle. I know my colleagues appreciate the challenges that everyday Americans face, and I think there is a sense of urgency to solve the challenges before us. The legislative process is much more structured, much more traditional and much slower than anything I have ever experienced before.

Just over two weeks after you were appointed California’s junior senator, you announced that you would not run for a full term. Help us understand why not.

It was clear to me that I could raise the money. It was clear to me that with a lot of work I could earn the vote of Californians. So knowing I could do it was one question. The next question had to be: did I want to do it? And I think serving in an elected position is a role that you have to want, and you have to want it deeply. This was never an opportunity that was on my bingo card, and there is no doubt that I want to continue to serve the people of California by using my voice and skills to the best of my ability. I just didn’t want to be a U.S. Senator.

I knew I wanted to be a mom to my 9 year old. What I wanted to do was continue to be a loud and clear voice about things I know, about communities I identify with and care about. I tell my daughter all the time, “There are no nevers.” And so I am not closing the door on holding elected office in the future; I just know this isn’t my chance right now.

With just over a year left in office, what do you plan to focus on?

As I take on the responsibility of being California’s junior senator, one of the youngest senators in the chamber, one of the few college-age parents in the chamber, and currently only our nation’s third Black woman and twelfth Black person , the best thing I can do is create space for future generations.

The work we need to do must be about legislating for the future of our country – housing issues, mental health challenges and recovery from a global pandemic, deploying incredibly powerful artificial intelligence and the use of social media. And it needs to be thought about in a way that best centers those who will live through it the longest.

The voices of young people—Millennials, Generation Z, and generations to come—making laws with those lives in mind is, I think, one of the greatest applications of my time here in the Senate.

There are some things that young voters have said to us that are top of mind, and that young workers have said to us that are top of mind. So we are facing a youth mental health crisis, with data telling us that more and more young girls are contemplating suicide, and more and more young people are finding themselves deeply isolated after the pandemic. Mental health, and especially the mental health of young people, is an issue that I want to spend some time and attention on.

We need to see them as whole people, not just as voters when November rolls around.

When people think of the Senate, much of the discussion centers on how old the Senate is. Do you think it will be a challenge to focus on young people and youth?

Youth issues are American issues. Will it be a challenge? Maybe. It could also be an opportunity. It could also be a way for colleagues to think about how they want to engage young people in their country. It can even be a place of inspiration.

It is said here that the people closest to the pain have the best solutions. And I think we often forget that as a young person, as a child, they too are close to the pain.

My daughter was here in the Senate yesterday and it hurt my heart to hear her casually talk about the lockdown that took place at her school. It was like she was talking about coloring class. She told one of the staff here in the Senate office that I was going to pick her up during a lockdown. And what I hope we can do is center not just my daughter’s story, but the story of America’s children, the pain they feel, and for them to calmly and nonchalantly express that we as adults in their lives are the responsibility to do something about it.

I’m curious what you think the role of Congress is – and whether you think the institution is fulfilling that role.

Um No. The world is complicated. We see the fragility of our democracy. We are dealing with people who intend to corrupt the integrity of our institutions, who seek to sow division at every opportunity. And I think Congress is a reflection of that in so many ways.

There are people I have met who are instruments of that division, who perpetuate the things that divide the people of our country. When you have one chamber of Congress that takes three weeks to elect a Speaker, who so quickly in their majority, post-’22, put forward three pieces of legislative language and/or resolutions that would end the right of a woman’s ability to make decisions about her own body even further – but we had just experienced the unity of the heart of America, in places like Kansas and Ohio, where the American people are clear about who should make those decisions – it is clear that Congress as a whole does not understand the complexity of the moment, the voices of the country right now.

I have spoken to many members who are retiring or not seeking re-election. And I’m curious if you think what you just described plays a role in the decisions to leave – and has it played a role in yours?

That could be possible, if I’m honest with you. I’ve seen so much happening across the country, in communities and cities and counties and states where Washington’s decisions are actually being implemented. It starts with: what can this body achieve? These states, provinces and cities do not have the resources or policy frameworks to truly direct or carry out their work without members in the Senate and House of Representatives. And so for me they are not disconnected. We need committed advocates, leaders who are doing the work outside of government to truly make our democracy vibrant and move it forward in a way that helps everyone move forward.

Do you talk to your colleagues about that frustration?

I think there is real knowledge about how frustrated the American people are. The point is: how do you listen to what is being said? There are many common areas. You might not think that California and Alabama have anything to do with each other. But in my conversations I get to know Senator [Katie] Britt [a Republican] from Alabama, who also has school-age children, I learned that Alabama ranks 47th in the nation in access to mental health care. And you compare that to the LA Times story that we have 1,800 vacancies for mental health professionals in LA County alone – there is real commonality.

I spoke with a young farmer in California’s Central Valley named Nevin who started his own dairy farm and broke away from the commodity farm his family came from. And I was talking to Senator [Charles E.] Grassley [a Republican] from Iowa on the state of climate change and how water and the lack of water and sometimes the abundance of unplanned water are impacting Iowa farmers. The same dairy cows that Nevin raises in California’s Central Valley are affected by these things.

And so finding common solutions in which every American can see themselves is, I think, the greatest opportunity we have. But it is rooted in articulating those frustrations and listening to them, listening to those frustrations and purposefully seeking out those points of agreement.