California has a new senator, but she won’t be attending

stage this Sunday with three of the Democratic candidates competing

the

2024

race

to serve a full term in the upper chamber of Congress.

It was a week of tectonic shifts in California politics. But a candidate forum on Sunday is also part of that

Representatives

Adam

b.

Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee mean it is the work of campaigning

ing

fell back into a normal cadence.

The

three rival trios

want to

each

The aim is to convince a major union of healthcare professionals that they are the best person to succeed Laphonza Butler

was appointed by

California Governor Gavin Newsom

appointed

to complete the term of the late Senator Dianne Feinstein.

The National Union of Healthcare Workers has 17,000 members in California, and immediately after the forum ends, they will vote to decide which candidate they will support. That choice will be announced on Wednesday. (Watch a livestream of the event at YouTube.com/@RollCall).

We are thrilled to host a forum with the leading candidates for the U.S. Senate so that our members will understand exactly where they stand on the issues that matter most to them, including health care, mental health equity and workers’ rights, union president Sal Rosselli said in a speech. press release about the event. This forum is an opportunity for NUHW members to hear first-hand from the candidates, and…

it is also a news event where

reporters can ask questions on the minds of voters across the state.

The union invited Butler to participate, but a representative for the senator said she would 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 day before, she joined Schiff, Lee and many other elected officials and dignitaries in San Francisco for Feinstein’s funeral, which was held on the steps of City Hall.

“As I reflect on my journey here at Emily’s List and consider the possibility of accepting that I will never be able to fill Dianne Feinstein’s shoes, I can sit in her seat,” Butler said Friday.

Butler has yet to say whether she will serve a full term next year. Asked by The Times last week, she said: I have no idea. I honestly don’t know.

That has sparked a frenzy among those trying to finish a race where the dynamics once seemed relatively fixed.

Porter and Schiff were neck and neck in recent polls. The two candidates who receive the most votes in the March primary will advance to the runoff in the November 2024 general election.

Due to the enormous costs of campaigning in California and rapidly approaching filing deadlines, Butler must quickly decide whether to run to get on the ballot and raise money.

However, at least one deadline has been postponed. California’s Democratic Party had previously given anyone seeking endorsements in the Senate race until Friday to apply.

The party, which backed Feinstein’s main opponent in the 2018 primaries, now expects to hear from the candidates by October. 27.