Laphonza Butler wants you to know she’s your U.S. senator

Ever since Laphonza Butler took herself out of the running for U.S. Senate a year ago — just two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom picked her to replace the late Dianne Feinstein — she has faded into the background quite a bit.

Thursday, to mark one year since the Democrat took the oath of office, her office sent a clear message that she’s busy representing California — and will be until whoever voters pick in November is sworn in to serve until January, and then a full six-year term after that.

In a series of social media posts, Butler’s office gave some facts and figures on what she’s been up to — 342 votes and much more:

Butler’s office did not answer my questions about what’s next for the senator once her term ends in December.

A political firestorm: Gov. Newsom, of course, but even President Joe Biden reacted Thursday to a report that Donald Trump, when he was president in 2018, initially refused to help California during its devastating wildfires because it’s a Democratic state.

A former White House official told Politico that Trump changed his mind after being shown that he received more votes in Orange County than the entire state of Iowa in 2016. (In 2020, even though Biden defeated Trump by 63% to 34% in California, Trump still won 6 million votes, more than in any other state).

VotingMatters: CalMatters has a new local lookup tool to find out what you’ll be voting on for the November election. We’re also hosting a series of public events across California. The next ones are at Los Angeles Public Library branches Monday and Tuesday. Sign up here, and read about the event this week in San Fernando. We’ve added ways to access the Voter Guide, both in print and online, and to learn about the propositions on TikTok and Instagram. And keep up with CalMatters coverage by signing up for 2024 election emails.

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Let’s get to some housing news Gov. Newsom made Thursday:

Facebook has acknowledged that polarizing content and misinformation on its platform has incited real-life violence.

An analysis by CalMatters and The Markup found that the reverse is also true: Real-world violence can sometimes open new revenue opportunities for Meta.

Using Facebook’s own AI tool to count the millions of dollars it makes after violent news events, investigative reporter Colin Lecher and journalism engineer Tomas Apodaca analyzed ad revenue connected to the July 13 attempted assassination of Donald Trump and Israel’s war in Gaza. Research also shows some advertisers increased ad spending following mass shootings and in the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Meta said advertisers often respond to current events and that ads that run on its platform are reviewed and must meet the company’s standards.