Who is new U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler? A powerful Democrat with a complicated labor legacy

She’s worked at high levels in almost every place where Democrats are strong: a former top California labor official, president of an influential women’s political organization and adviser to Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and other party luminaries.

Laphonza Butler was sworn in Tuesday as the Senate’s only Black woman and just the third in its history, following Harris (2017-21), now vice president, and Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, (1993-99) the Illinois Democrat.