Why AP declared Schiff, Garvey will face off for California’s US Senate seat: Race call explained

WASHINGTON — The Associated Press was able to declare that Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey have advanced to the November election for California’s U.S. Senate seat, based on an analysis of partial results from across the state.

Schiff was declared the winner of one of the two general elections at 11:30 PM EST, about 30 minutes after polls closed in California. With an estimated 19% of votes counted from parts of 30 of the state’s 58 counties, Schiff had a wide lead over his nearest competitor.

Garvey was declared the winner of the second and final general election at 12:01 a.m. EST, when he roughly doubled the vote total of the third-place candidate, Democratic Rep. Katie Porter. At the time, an estimated 39% of the total votes were counted, from 55 of California’s 58 counties.

Under California’s unique primary election system, all candidates in non-presidential races appear on the same ballot, regardless of party, and first- and second-place candidates advance to the general election. This often results in general elections with two candidates from the same party.

Porter couldn’t catch Garvey even though she exceeded expectations in the ballot that had yet to be counted, the AP analysis found. California is counting votes very slowly, so the candidates’ margins are likely to change in the coming days.

Schiff and Garvey will vie for the seat long held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died last fall.

Tuesday’s election actually involves two separate contests to fill Feinstein’s seat: one to complete the remaining months of her current term, which ends in January 2025; and the other for a full six-year term, which would then be elected in 2030.

Feinstein announced before her death that she did not plan to run for a sixth full term this year, and nearly thirty candidates entered the race to replace her. Her death in September left a vacancy that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom filled with fellow Democrat Laphonza Butler, who did not run for either term. State law required a special election this year to fill the remainder of the term.

The AP stated that Schiff and Garvey had advanced to the general election for both the unexpired term and the full six-year term.

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Associated Press reporter Maya Sweedler contributed.