On Sunday night, California governor Gavin Newsom announced that he has picked Laphonza Butler, president of the pro-abortion political action committee EMILY’s List, to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the late Dianne Feinstein. 

Newsom’s appointment of Butler is equivalent to a Republican governor’s filling a Senate vacancy with the president of the NRA: It’s pleasing to the base and good for fundraising. It’s no secret, but one thing many people might not know is that EMILY’s List is not named after a woman; EMILY is an acronym for “Early Money Is Like Yeast” — it “makes the dough rise.” 

Politico reports that Newsom is “making his appointment without putting limitations or preconditions on his pick running for the seat in 2024,” but Butler could have an uphill battle in the California primary because she is a Maryland resident: 

By naming an out-of-state resident, Newsom may have helped himself avoid the wrath of the Democrats who have already launched campaigns in the 2024 Senate primary. If they can’t defeat a Maryland resident in a California primary, they’ll really only have themselves to blame.