LOS ANGELES — A crowded primary to fill the U.S. Senate seat once held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is once again showing that money matters in notoriously expensive California, as it tests whether the state’s long-bickering Republicans can rally behind a single candidate for an outside opportunity. the chair.
Voting is about to begin, with a Monday deadline for counties to mail out ballots.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, who rose to national prominence as the lead prosecutor in then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, has built a dominant fundraising lead while consistently topping the polls. But a large portion of voters remain undecided heading into the March 5 elections.
Under California rules, Democrats and Republicans appear on the same ballot and the two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of political party. Schiff, who has raised a lot of money to blanket the state with ads on TV, cable and streaming services, appears to be in the strongest position to grab one of those two November slots.
He is being pursued by two other well-known Democratic House members, Reps. Barbara Lee and Katie Porter, and Republican and former Los Angeles Dodgers star Steve Garvey, a former National League MVP who is seeking public office for the first time 37 years after retiring. achieves. of baseball.
In all, more than 20 names will appear on the Senate ballot for the six-year term that begins next year, although many of them are political unknowns.
The seat is expected to remain in Democratic hands in November, in a state where Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate election since 1988.
With Schiff looking set to take one of the November spots, Porter’s campaign is routinely targeting Garvey, with a recent fundraising email warning that the former MVP’s fame “risks being the reason we miss Katie’s vote in Congress forever.”
Schiff, meanwhile, is running ads statewide calling Garvey “too conservative for California,” which could be intended to raise Garvey’s profile among conservatives and dampen Porter’s chances since Garvey would be a long shot in the fall .
Porter said in a statement in November that Schiff is trying to “game the system to get an opponent they have the best chance of beating.”
Feinstein died in September, ending a long career in which she broke gender barriers and was a passionate advocate for abortion rights and gun control. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed longtime Democratic organizer Laphonza Butler to fill Feinstein’s term, and Butler opted not to seek election to the seat.
The race is unfolding at a time when the state’s once rapidly growing population has been in decline, and polls show many Californians dissatisfied with the state’s direction, inflation and an unchecked homeless crisis in Los Angeles and other major towns.
The presidential race could color the outcome — and possibly depress turnout on both sides.
Although he faced only token opposition in the primaries, President Joe Biden’s popularity has waned and he is struggling with key voting groups including Latinos and independents, polls in California show. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump is the heavy favorite to claim the Republican nomination, which could dampen the Republican Party’s rise if the battle appears to be largely over by early March.
Garvey brought a touch of celebrity to the race, but his challenge lies primarily in consolidating the Republican base. He is competing for Republican votes with attorney Eric Early, who previously ran unsuccessfully for state attorney general and Congress. Democrats have tried to stoke tensions in the Republican Party and discourage independents from electing Garvey by highlighting his indecisiveness over the White House pick: Garvey has refused to say whether he will vote for Trump this year votes, after supporting him in 2016 and 2020.
He is one of the few Republicans with a widely recognizable name to run for statewide office in years. In 2016 and 2018, Republican Senate candidates performed so poorly that two Democrats emerged in November. In 2022, Democratic Senator Alex Padilla scored a walkover victory against little-known Republican Mark Meuser.
Although Garvey is well known to an older generation of baseball fans, Democrats portray him as a political novice unprepared for the Senate at a time of global unrest. Garvey has also seen attacks on his character related to 1980s sex scandals that damaged his reputation as “Mr. Clean,” a nickname that referred to his buttoned-up image from his Dodger days. At the time, he admitted to having two children by women he was not married to, and subsequently married another woman, his current wife.
He said of those days, “I think our lives are a journey. … I’ve been through some rough times here and there. I learned from it.”
The leading Democrats are usually indistinguishable on policy issues, but the battle has exposed divisions within the party’s left wing, including over the Israel-Hamas war and so-called congressional funds.
Attorney Porter has presented herself as a suburban soccer mom who keeps a keen eye on Capitol Hill’s corporate excess — often using a whiteboard to break down complex information during congressional hearings. Schiff, a former prosecutor, has emerged as an establishment favorite and counts former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi among his supporters. Lee often highlights her compelling life story: she fought to become her high school’s first black cheerleader and was once homeless after fleeing an abusive marriage. And she was also the only member of Congress to vote against authorizing the use of military force after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
In a recent televised debate, Lee called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, while Schiff spoke out outspokenly in support of Israel’s right to defend itself. Porter opposes earmarks — in which lawmakers direct federal spending to a specific project or institution domestically — while Schiff and Lee endorsed them.
Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, made clear early in his campaign that he planned to anchor his candidacy in his role as Trump’s main opponent in Congress. In his campaign launch video, he said the “greatest job of his life” was serving as impeachment manager and vowed to remain a “fighter” for democracy.
In June, Schiff was censured by the Republican-led House of Representatives in a party-line vote over comments he made during the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia. During that time, the congressman made regular appearances on TV and launched online fundraising pitches, including on voting day when he urged supporters to “become a founding member” of his Senate campaign.