
Baseball great Steve Garvey and Rep. Adam Schiff (D) were the top two vote-getters in the California Super Tuesday Senate primary and will face each other in November’s general election.
Under California’s rules, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election — and Garvey and Schiff were the easy winners.
Garvey was a Gold Glove winner and 10-time MLB All-Star who played for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. Garvey won a World Series in 1981 with the Dodgers.
“What you all are feeling tonight is what it’s like to hit a walk off home run,” Garvey told his supporters Tuesday night after advancing. “Keep in mind, this is the first game of a doubleheader,” Garvey added, alluding to his November head-to-head matchup against Schiff. “So, keep the evening of Nov. 5 open as we will celebrate again.”
Schiff is primarily known for leading the first impeachment inquiry into former President Donald Trump and being censured for lying by Congress. He also received endorsements from many of the Democrats who represent California including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Adam Schiff gets called out during the CA Senate debate by Republican Steve Garvey for lying about Russian collusion:
Garvey: "I believe you were censured for lying."
Schiff: "I was censured for standing up to a corrupt president"
Garvey: "Sir, you lied to 300 million people… pic.twitter.com/tqv4YD2kZZ
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 23, 2024
Fox News contributor Steve Hilton spoke about Garvey’s surge in popularity in California. Polls show him gaining ground on Schiff, and Hilton believes that Democrats are surprised that voters in the Democratic stronghold seem to be more open to voting for a Republican like Garvey.
“They’re massively surprised because they’re incredibly arrogant,” Hilton said. “They assume that California is just a total Democratic one-party state. Republicans have got no chance.”
“That was their attitude when Steve Garvey got in the race and the assumption among the California political press and all the Democrats was ‘well, it’s obviously going to be Adam Schiff and Katie Porter,’ but what it tells you is that this state, my beautiful home state of California, is much more Republican than people think,” he added.
Garvey faces a steep uphill battle for the California Senate seat as no Republican has won a Senate election since 1988.
The Senate seat that is currently up for grabs was held by the late Diane Feinstein who was elected in 1992 and held the seat until her death last September.