The first step for the candidates running in next year’s California Senate race is to quietly try to spook newly appointed Sen. Laphonza Butler into not running at all.
Advisers to the campaigns of Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff all say that they are giving Butler time and space to decide. They each issued statements praising her – albeit gradually. Schiff was in the Senate gallery for Butler’s official swearing-in on Tuesday, and Lee attended a ceremonial Congressional Black Caucus swearing-in shortly after on the other side of the US Capitol. (Porter texted with Butler earlier in the day to express regrets about a meeting she couldn’t move, and Butler texted back to say she understood, according to an aide.)
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