Super Tuesday is upon us, and the golden prize up for grabs is California. Former President Donald Trump will look to burnish his credentials with a dominant delegate victory, while President Joe Biden will also aim for a dominant show. But there are plenty of intriguing down-ballot races, not least the jungle primary for former Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat, as well as several intriguing House Seats. This series, Golden State Scramble, will look at all of the above and more. Part Four takes a look at the race to fill Feinstein’s seat.
SAN FRANCISCO — California’s U.S. Senate race is delivering the drama.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic front-runner for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) seat, made an $11.2 million gamble to box out his chief Democratic rival by elevating a GOP contender who also happens to be a baseball legend with a problematic past and no political experience.
There have been accusations of dirty politics, calls for donor purity tests, and strategy sessions that could hurt down-ballot Democrats and see a Republican walk away with a win in the costly and crowded California contest.
Tuesday will mark the first time in 30 years that Feinstein’s name won’t be on the ballot, and her absence has brought out 11 candidates in total. Californians will be asked to vote twice. Once to fill the remainder of Feinstein’s seat and another for their choice for a full six-year term beginning in 2025.
The top four candidates are Schiff, Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), and political newcomer Republican Steve Garvey.
Schiff and his allies have shelled out millions of dollars to bring attention to Garvey in an attempt to avoid facing Porter in a general election matchup in November.
“Let’s face it, Donald Trump and the House Republicans should have to file in-kind contribution reports to the Schiff campaign,” California-based Democratic strategist Garry South said.
In a general election, Schiff would be the overwhelming favorite to beat Garvey. California is a blue state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1. He would be in a much tougher spot against Porter. It would also test intraparty loyalties and drain campaign cash that could go to vulnerable Democrats in other competitive races.
“[Porter] would give him a hell of a run in the general election — he would look like the establishment Washington, D.C., insider, and she could have contrasted herself with him,” GOP strategist Kevin Spillane said. “Schiff’s working harder to get Garvey in the runoff than Garvey is himself.”
Schiff’s risky strategy for the state’s jungle primary, where the top two candidates, regardless of party, go through to the general election, seems to have worked a little too well.
Not only has Schiff managed to boost Garvey’s chances of securing a spot on the November ballot, but Garvey, who voted for former President Donald Trump twice and has struggled to find donors, establish a platform, or run a traditional campaign, is now polling ahead of Schiff heading into Super Tuesday.
On the eve of the primary, the University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies released a final poll showing Garvey leading the pack, with support from 27% of likely voters, followed by Schiff at 25%. Porter has fallen to third, with 19%.
“The only thing that most voters knew about Steve Garvey on New Year’s Day was that he used to play for the Dodgers and the Padres,” said Dan Schnur, a political communications professor at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley. “He hasn’t had the money to fill in those blanks, so Schiff and his allies are doing it for him.”
Porter has repeatedly called out Schiff for making big money moves that have helped Garvey.
“Adam Schiff knows he will lose to me in November,” Porter posted on X. “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. We need honest leadership, not political games.”
Porter also chided Schiff for paying for ads on Fox News a year after he sent a fundraising email claiming companies shouldn’t patronize a news outlet he argued parroted Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election.
“I think these ads are weakening our democracy,” Porter said. “They’re weakening our ability to engage Democratic voters all the way through November. I think we should focus on honesty and choices and setting the record straight.”
And yet, after criticizing Schiff, Porter did the same thing, spending $500,000 in ads that brought attention to Eric Early, another Republican in the race, to blunt Garvey’s chances and raise hers. In one of the spots, Early is described as a candidate who supports Trump “100%,” opposes abortion, loves guns, and is “way more dangerous than Steve Garvey.”
Porter, who has prided herself on not taking donations from corporate political action committees, has also taken umbrage with Schiff’s deep-pocketed donors and has called for a purity test.
She blasted Schiff for accepting campaign contributions from oil, Big Pharma, and other special interest groups trying to tilt federal policy in their favor.
“Rep. Schiff may have prosecuted Big Oil companies before he came to Congress, but when he got to Congress, he cashed checks from companies like [BP], from fossil fuel companies,” she said during a January debate.
Schiff, who took $2,000 from the BP North America Employee PAC in 2004 and 2006, claimed Porter benefited from it. He said he used some of the millions of dollars he has raised throughout the years to help Porter flip her congressional district blue.
“I gave that money to you, Katie Porter, and the only response was thank you, thank you, thank you,” Schiff shot back.
As of Feb. 14, Schiff had raised $31 million, Porter had $28 million, Lee had $5 million, and Garvey had $2.1 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Porter recently made headlines for trying to pull in more cash by holding a fire sale for her highly sought-after fundraising list, which has generated more than $75 million in recent cycles. Prices for Democratic donors who have ponied up in the past started at a measly $0.65 each, Politico reported.
Though it’s common for candidates to sell their fundraising lists after an election or in the last days of a general election, “doing so during a primary is an unusual and risky move, and if Porter does advance beyond March 5, she will need to rely on those donations in a likely rematch with another fundraising juggernaut, Rep. Adam Schiff,” a Politico writer who has seen the list wrote.
When it comes to endorsements, Schiff has pulled in the lion’s share, including from the Los Angeles Times, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), former California Sen. Barbara Boxer, and 75% of California’s House delegation.
Porter has scored endorsements from the San Francisco Chronicle, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), five state senators, and a handful of other local elected officials.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Lee has gotten notable endorsements from Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), California’s attorney general, secretary of state, and the state comptroller. The longtime Oakland lawmaker also pulled in five former baseball major leaguers, including Dusty Baker and Dave Stewart, who both played with Garvey but threw their weight behind Lee.
Garvey pulled in an endorsement from Jack Hibbs, the pastor of a megachurch in Los Angeles who told his 10,000 parishioners that God wanted a candidate like Garvey who is “pro-life.” Hibbs faced criticism for his comments and recently said during a sermon that his endorsement broke a law barring churches from supporting political candidates.
