California has a new senator, but she wasn’t onstage Sunday with three of the Democratic candidates vying in the 2024 race to serve a full term in Congress’ upper chamber.
After a week of tectonic shifts in California politics, the candidate forum that included Reps. Adam B. Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee showed that the work of campaigning was falling back into a normal cadence. The three rivals aimed to convince a major union of healthcare workers that they’re the best person to succeed Laphonza Butler— who was appointed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to finish the term of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
When asked by the moderators whether Butler should run for a full term, all three candidates said it was her choice and that they would remain in the race no matter what happened.
“I think competitive elections are good for democracy,” Porter told the audience from the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which has 17,000 members in California who were able to vote on which candidate the union would endorse immediately after the forum concluded.
“I’m glad to be running with my wonderful colleagues in this race, and I think this race has galvanized and energized California to have important conversations about whether we’re getting what we need from Washington,” Porter said.
Schiff and Lee echoed that sentiment. Neither criticized Butler when asked about her time working for Uber when it was lobbying the California state government to prevent drivers from being classified as employees.
“I think all of us are up for scrutiny, and that’s what democracy is all about,” Lee said.
The union invited Butler to participate, but a spokesman for the senator said she’d be in Washington, D.C., this weekend. On Friday she attended a fundraiser in New York City for Emily’s List — her former employer. The previous day, she was in San…
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