Former senator · California

Laphonza R. Butler

Laphonza R. Butler served in Congress from 2023 to 2024, last as a Democratic senator from California. In the 118th Congress, 421 roll calls were held while they served; they missed 19, and cast 306 of 307 party-unity votes with the majority of their caucus.

Party
Democrat
Chamber
Senate
Former
In Congress since
Oct 3, 2023
Last term ended
Dec 8, 2024
Open in the Congress explorerOfficial record
Photo: Government Publishing Office (public domain)

Record by Congress

Counts with their denominators for each Congress and chamber served. Ranks are among members who served most of that Congress (100 or more roll calls): rank 1 did it most often. A description, not a grade.

CongressRoll callsMissedVotes with partySponsoredCosponsored across the aisle
118th CongressSenate4214.5%19 of 421 · rank 41 of 101100%306 of 307 · rank 11 of 101221 became law12%37 of 319

Ideology (DW-NOMINATE)

Voteview's DW-NOMINATE first dimension estimates where members sit from all their roll calls: liberal (−1) to conservative (+1). It describes voting patterns, not views. Shown for the 118th Congress (Senate), with each party's median and the chamber's range.

Liberal −1−0.45+1 Conservative

Source: Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/

Votes against their party

The latest party-unity votes on bills and amendments where the member voted yea or nay against most of their caucus.

No recorded vote against the party majority on bills or amendments in the loaded Congresses.

Recent votes

The latest roll calls on bills and amendments, with the member's recorded position.

  1. H.R. 9747: Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025Yea
    Sep 25, 2024· Senate· Passage· On Passage of the Bill· Bill Passed 78–18
  2. H.R. 9468: Veterans Benefits Continuity and Accountability Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024Nay
    Sep 19, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 47–47
  3. S.J.Res. 58: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to "Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Furnaces".Nay
    May 21, 2024· Senate· Passage· On the Joint Resolution· Joint Resolution Passed 50–45
  4. H.J.Res. 109: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to "Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121".Nay
    May 16, 2024· Senate· Passage· On the Joint Resolution· Joint Resolution Passed 60–38
  5. S.J.Res. 57: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of the Treasury relating to "Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds".Nay
    May 15, 2024· Senate· Passage· On the Joint Resolution· Joint Resolution Defeated 46–49
  6. H.R. 3935: FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024Yea
    May 9, 2024· Senate· Passage· On Passage of the Bill· Bill Passed 88–4
  7. H.R. 7888: Reforming Intelligence and Securing America ActNay
    Apr 19, 2024· Senate· Passage· On Passage of the Bill· Bill Passed 60–34· Against party
  8. H.R. 7888: Reforming Intelligence and Securing America ActNay
    Apr 19, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 40–53
  9. H.R. 7888: Reforming Intelligence and Securing America ActYea
    Apr 19, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 42–50
  10. H.R. 7888: Reforming Intelligence and Securing America ActNay
    Apr 19, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 11–81
  11. H.R. 7888: Reforming Intelligence and Securing America ActNay
    Apr 19, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 34–58
  12. H.R. 7888: Reforming Intelligence and Securing America ActNay
    Apr 19, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 17–75

Sponsored bills

Bills and resolutions the member introduced as sponsor in the loaded Congresses. Volume is not quality: most measures never leave committee.

22 sponsored · 1 became law

How far they got

  1. Introduced1986%
  2. Reported by committee14.5%
  3. Passed one chamber14.5%
  4. Became law14.5%

Policy areas

  1. Health4
  2. Finance and Financial Sector3
  3. Education2
  4. Agriculture and Food1
  5. Armed Forces and National Security1
  6. Commerce1
  7. Congress1
  8. Crime and Law Enforcement1

Latest activity

  1. S. 4900 Investing in Community Resilience Act of 2024
    Reported by committee· Emergency Management· Dec 16, 2024
  2. S. 4243 Shirley Chisholm Congressional Gold Medal Act
    Became law· Congress· Dec 12, 2024
  3. S. 5031 Workforce of the Future Act of 2024
    Introduced· Education· Sep 12, 2024
  4. S. 4903 Generation Now Workforce Representation Act of 2024
    Introduced· Labor and Employment· Jul 31, 2024
  5. S. 4899 HEIRS Act of 2024
    Introduced· Housing and Community Development· Jul 31, 2024
  6. S. 4897 Water Conservation Rebate Tax Parity Act
    Introduced· Taxation· Jul 31, 2024
  7. S. 4812 Strengthening Supports for Youth Act
    Introduced· Health· Jul 25, 2024
  8. S. 4811 Prevention Services for Youth Act
    Introduced· Health· Jul 25, 2024

Committees

Seats as published by the congress-legislators project. Past seats are those no longer listed since Analisa began recording them.

No committee seats are listed.

Terms

Every term in the House or Senate, as published by the congress-legislators project.

  1. Senate · CaliforniaOct 3, 2023 – Dec 8, 2024

Identifiers

The same member in other public records.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Congressional district boundaries and relationship files (U.S. Census Bureau)U.S. Census Bureau, Cartographic Boundary Files (congressional districts) and 2020 relationship files · release cd116+cd118+cd119 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Activity counts describe volume and attendance; they are not a measure of quality.