Democrat U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff bested Republican and former baseball star Steve Garvey in the race for California’s U.S. Senate seat, according to The Associated Press, which called the race at 11 p.m. ET, even before the results were in.
Garvey’s Campaign
Known as a star player with the Los Angeles Dodgers and later with the San Diego Padres in a career that spanned from 1969 to 1987, Garvey’s opponents had a field day with baseball analogies in the first and second televised debates on Jan. 22 and Feb. 14 before the primary.Garvey was grilled by Schiff and two other Democrats, U.S. Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, because he voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Schiff said Garvey’s first debate performance was a “whiff,” and Porter said, “once a dodger, always a dodger,” when Garvey appeared to be in a hot box over his reluctance to admit that he had voted for Trump.
“This is not the minor leagues,” Porter said. “Who will you vote for?”
“I think when we vote for a president, and he’s duly elected, I believe we should support that president, support the office, because that’s the leader of the United States, the free world,” Garvey said.
In the second debate, Garvey pushed back against Schiff for his relentless barbs about Garvey voting for Trump, calling out Schiff for his allegations to Congress in what has been referred to as the “Russia hoax.”
“I think you’ve been censured for lying,” Garvey said.
“I was censured for standing up to a corrupt president, and you know something, I would do it all over again,” Schiff replied.
Schiff’s Censure
Schiff came under the national media spotlight for his role in then-President Trump’s first impeachment trial and was later censured by the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2023 for making unsubstantiated claims that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia and for Schiff’s leading role in the Trump–Russia probe.“Whereas for years, Representative Schiff abused this trust by alleging he had evidence of collusion that, as is clear from reports by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and Special Counsel Durham, never existed,” the resolution states.
A ‘Unique’ Race
Garvey led a relatively quiet campaign. He was noticeably absent from Trump’s only California rally in Coachella and the California Republican party’s spring convention in Burlingame in May.“I don’t know much about Steve Garvey,” Trump said. “I think he’s made a big mistake because he hasn’t reached out to MAGA.”
Border Crisis
In the first debate, Schiff said the immigration system is broken but that immigrants who have fled violence and are seeking asylum in the United States deserve respect and dignity.“It is a crisis. It is unsustainable, but we should approach this with compassion, and we should also try to get people to apply for asylum safely from their home countries,” he said.
Garvey, who has advocated closing the border, criticized all three of his Democrat opponents early in the debate.
“First of all, if you break the law, it’s illegal. Second of all, where have you all been the last three years?” he asked. “We have a pathway to citizenship. Let’s enforce it.”
Illegal border crossings have increased by more than tenfold over the past few years, and illegal immigrants are bringing drugs, cartels, and human trafficking with them, he said.
Middle East Conflict
In the first debate, in response to a question posed by moderators about the Hamas terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, Garvey said he supported Israel as the greatest U.S. ally in the Middle East and Israel’s right to fight back and defend its sovereignty.“I stand with Israel yesterday, today, and tomorrow,” he said. “That day was atrocious. Terrorists, while Israelis slept, performed atrocities.”
Schiff said Israel not only has the right to defend itself, but also has a duty to defend its citizens after the brutal murder, rape, and torture of its people at the hands of terrorists.
“The magnitude of that horror is still shocking to me, and I think the United States should support Israel,” he said. “We can’t leave Hamas governing Gaza.”
Schiff said he supports a two-state solution and suggested that the United States work with Israel to reduce the number of civilian casualties in the conflict.
In April, Garvey held a news conference in Los Angeles, where he urged political leaders to find the “political courage” to shut down anti-Israel demonstrations at more than 200 college campuses across the United States.