CA's Unpredictable, Bruising U.S. Senate Race

LOS ANGELES, CA — The often-bruising campaign to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously held by the late Dianne Feinstein will come to a head Tuesday, with the top four contenders in the crowded field all hoping to make a strong enough showing to advance to the November general election.

When Feinstein died in September, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed former Emily's List President Laphonza Butler to serve out most of the remainder of her term in the Senate, which expires next January, until someone else is elected. Butler decided not to run for the seat.

Although there are more than two dozen candidates on the ballot seeking the seat, the race has come down to a battle among Rep. Adam Schiff, D- Burbank; Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine; Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland; and Steve Garvey, a former Dodgers All-Star first baseman.

Critics have said that Garvey, 75, faces an uphill battle as a Republican hasn't won a Senate race in the state since 1988. In the state’s last two Senate races, only Democrats advanced to the general election under California's top-two election system. Only the top two primary vote-getters face off in November.

However, Republicans have a history of conveying star quality into statewide victories. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his star power to become California’s governor from 2003 to 2011. And in recent weeks, Garvey's campaign has surged, and he even emerged as the leading candidate in a recent poll -- with Democrats splitting their support among the other three top candidates.

Throughout the campaign, Garvey has leaned into his baseball career.

"I never played for Democrats or Republicans or independents. I played for all of you," Garvey said in a video launching his campaign in October. "It's time to get off the bench. It's time to get back in the game."

Garvey's entrance into the race gave Republicans a recognized name to many Californians.

"Our campaign is focused on quality-of-life issues, public safety and education," Garvey said in a statement announcing his candidacy.

Garvey said solving the homelessness crisis is one of his top priorities.

"We can’t just offer temporary fixes; we need to dig deep and provide comprehensive care that includes mental health, addiction treatment, and affordable housing," Garvey said on his campaign’s website. "This issue is about restoring hope, dignity, and humanity to our fellow Californians that are struggling on our streets."

The former baseball player said his focus will also be on public safety.

"I fully back our law enforcement and believe in the power of community policing and innovative crime prevention," Garvey said. "I'll work towards building strong partnerships between law enforcement and communities."

Garvey insisted he will improve the quality of life for Californians.

"It's about creating opportunities for every Californian to live a fulfilling life. From boosting our economy in these tough times, ensuring everyone has access to quality healthcare, to investing in our communities," he said.

Garvey stated he would also tackle the issue of immigration.

"We need a balanced approach to immigration. This means we must secure borders, while also respecting the dignity and aspirations of those who come here seeking a better life," Garvey said.

Other issues Garvey has focused on include improving the education system, supporting "practical climate action that balances our ecological needs with economic growth," and supporting sustainable agriculture that's "both environmentally friendly, economically viable."

Schiff, who rose to national prominence as the lead prosecutor in then- President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial, raised eyebrows during the campaign by running ads that framed the race as a contest between his Democratic credentials and Garvey's record. Those ads helped boost Garvey in the polls. Political analysts said Schiff was intentionally raising Garvey up so can fend off the Democratic candidates and dispatch Garvey in the November election.

"It's pretty clear Schiff is trying to bolster Garvey's credibility as his opponent in the runoff and then Schiff can take the rest of the summer off," Democratic political consultant Garry South told the Los Angeles Times.

Because of Democrats' overwhelming voter registration edge in the state and California's open primary system, analysts have opined that the race for the Senate will effectively be over if Schiff and a Republican take the top spots in March.

Porter, 50, a progressive star in the Democratic party, won reelection in November in a tight race for California's 47th Congressional District. She criticized Schiff's ads as a political ploy.

"Adam Schiff knows he will lose to me in November. That's what this brazenly cynical ad is about -- furthering his own political career, boxing out qualified Democratic women candidates, and boosting a Republican candidate to do it," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in early February. "We need honest leadership, not political games."

The former middle school math teacher and law professor has served in the House of Representatives since 2019. In her announcement video, Porter said it's time for new leadership in the U.S. Senate.

"I don't do Congress the way others often do. I use whatever power I have, speak hard truths to the powers that be," Porter said. "To not just challenge the status quo, but call it out."

As a Senator, Porter said she would focus on addressing the housing and homelessness crisis.

"Chronic street homelessness is the tip of a giant housing affordability iceberg," Porter said on her campaign's website. "So many Californians are struggling to find housing they can afford. This crisis has been years in the making, and it's a direct result of the federal government failing to take ownership of this issue for decades."

Porter emphasized that the federal government should not merely act as a partner in housing construction but should take on a leadership role. She said only the federal government can make the large-scale policy changes and investments necessary to build quality projects quickly.

She has also vowed to clean up corruption and shake up the Senate.

"Time and again, we see Washington politicians advance policies that cater to Wall Street, Big Oil, Big Pharma, and Big Insurance -- and stick everyday families with the bill. This legal corruption has to end,” Porter said.

Porter said she wants to ban Senators from accepting donations from registered lobbyists and get "dark money" out of politics.

When it comes to affordability, Porter stressed that California is too expensive for many people.

"As a single mom of three school-aged kids, I know rising costs are squeezing families," she said. "The federal government must rethink how it invests in our communities to bring costs down permanently and hold companies accountable when they price gouge consumers."

As for the issue of health care, Porter said she wants to enact Medicare for everyone.

"Medicare delivers the highest quality, most cost-effective health care with the most patient choice," Porter said. "I've run three competitive elections in a historically Republican area and never wavered in my support for Medicare for All."

Porter has gained social media notoriety for her interrogations using whiteboards on the Oversight and Natural Resources committees, and has made appearances on late-night television shows.

When Lee, 77, announced her candidacy for the Senate seat, she ran through a list of the personal and professional battles she has taken on in her life, including fighting to be her school's first Black cheerleader and championing protections for survivors of domestic violence. She's also the only member of Congress to vote against the authorization for the use of military force after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"I've never backed down from doing what's right. And I never will. Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has delivered real change," she said in a social media post announcing her campaign.

Lee was first elected to the House in 1998 in a special election and has been reelected 13 times.

"We have to ease the burden on the middle class. We have to find a solution to poverty and homelessness. We have to take on the climate crisis. And we have to stop these MAGA extremists who think they can control people’s bodies and dismantle our democracy," Lee said in a campaign video.

She's a member of House Democratic leadership, serving as co-chair of the Democratic Steering Committee, and was the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

One of her top priorities is economic justice, according to her campaign.

"Working class Californians are struggling to feed their families and heat their homes, while corporate profits are at a 70-year high," Lee said on her campaign's website.

Lee emphasized that she has led the Congressional fight to expand affordable housing, childcare and SNAP benefits.

"In the Senate, I will continue to drive the fight for resources and assistance that allow working families to thrive, not just survive," she said.

Lee gained national attention for advocating for a $50 minimum wage. During a debate Feb. 12 with the other candidates, she defended the wage, citing a United Way report that showed $127,000 is "just barely enough to get by" for a family of four in the San Francisco Bay Area. Another individual making $104,000 annually would be classified as low income, she said, citing another report.

"Just do that math. Just do that math," Lee said during the debate. "Of course we have national minimum wages that we need to raise to a living wage. You're talking about 20, 25 dollars, fine. But I have got to be focused on what California needs and what the affordability factor is when we calculate this wage."

Affordable housing and addressing homelessness are also on the list of Lee's top priorities.

"I will work to invest more than $1 trillion in the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund to build millions of affordable units in both urban and rural areas, offer assistance for first-time home buyers, and provide rent relief for lower-income renters,” Lee said.

If elected, she would be the sole Black female senator serving in the Congress and only the third in U.S. history.

As for Schiff, 62, he has been running on a platform of protecting democracy. He has been ridiculed by Donald Trump for his criticism of the former president from various posts: as Trump impeachment manager in 2020, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

"We're in the fight of our lives for the future of our country," Schiff said in a statement launching his campaign last year. "Our democracy is under assault from MAGA extremists, who care only about gaining power and keeping it. And our economy is simply not working for millions of Americans, who are working harder than ever just to get by."

In June, Schiff was censured by the Republican-led House on a party- line vote for comments he made during the investigations into Trump's ties to Russia. Schiff took the censure by Republicans as a badge of honor.

"For the first time in generations, our country and its citizens are seeing their rights and freedoms recede, not expand," Schiff said on his campaign's website.

"From abortion and reproductive care to LGBTQ equality and the ability to vote -- all of these inherent rights are under assault. We need to preserve and protect our rights and freedoms -- and yes, expand them -- not take them away, as reactionary MAGA Republicans and a partisan Supreme Court have successfully done over the last few years."

Schiff said he will also tackle the twin crises of housing affordability and homelessness.

"We simply do not have enough housing that's affordable, and because of that, we have seen a dramatic rise in people experiencing homelessness," Schiff said. "We need to build hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing each year in California alone, and help those struggling to pay for housing every day."

He added that the government needs to dramatically change how it approaches homelessness, not only to prevent people from ending up on the streets but also to find effective methods of housing them.

One of the main components of Schiff's campaign is his affordability agenda.

"California working families are facing an affordability crisis. And we can do something about it," Schiff said.

"Corporations are raising the prices of goods with little oversight and swallowing up their competition. We need federal price gouging rules, better antitrust enforcement, and to drive down the costs of prescription drugs and gas -- all while protecting and empowering workers."

Schiff was first elected to Congress in 2000, representing a large swath of the greater Los Angeles area. Previously he served as a California state senator and as an assistant U.S. Attorney.

The term for California's other senator, Alex Padilla, expires in 2029.

The Senate race appears twice on Tuesday's ballot. The first ballot item asks voters to choose a representative to serve out the remainder of Feinstein's current term, which ends in January. The second is for full six- year term that begins after that. The top two finishers in both races will advance to the November general election.

The winner of the race to fill out the remainder of the existing term will hence serve from November until January. There are only seven candidates seeking to fill the balance of Feinstein's term, including Schiff, Porter, Lee and Garvey.

City News Service