Schiff and Garvey Advance in Race for Prized California Senate Seat

Primary Election 2024 Live Updates: Follow KQED reporters as we cover election results from across California and the Bay Area.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank will face Republican Steve Garvey, a former baseball star, in the November general election to decide who will represent California in the U.S. Senate, after the two men edged out Democratic Reps. Katie Porter of Orange County and Barbara Lee of Oakland.

The matchup, in an overwhelmingly Democratic state where a Republican hasn’t won a statewide contest since 2006, is a huge win for Schiff, who ran ads propping up Garvey in the hopes of avoiding a runoff with another Democrat.

The Associated Press called the race just after 9 p.m., an hour after polls closed Tuesday night, with Schiff decisively leading the pack and Garvey in second place, holding a commanding lead over Porter.

Lee, who raised significantly less money than her opponents and had consistently trailed in the polls, was in a distant fourth place.

“This is the least surprising outcome of any race I think this year,” said Gil Duran, a journalist and political commentator. “And now, although some of our friends maybe in TV have to pretend like there’s a race this year, it’s pretty much over. We all know that. That’s why Schiff pushed to have Garvey in the race with him. There’s no way a Republican can win.”

The outcome of Tuesday’s race means that California will not be represented by a female senator for the first time since 1992, when the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein took the seat, which she held until her death last fall. Her replacement, Sen. Laphonza Butler, was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, but chose not to run for a full term.

In a quirk of election timing, voters actually weighed in on two questions Tuesday: Who should compete for the full six-year term that begins next January, and who should fill out the final months of Feinstein’s term after the November election.

In both cases, voters chose Garvey and Schiff.

Schiff, a longtime congressman and former federal prosecutor, ran as an establishment Democrat, with endorsements from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and most of California’s Democratic congressional delegation.

As chair of the House Intelligence Committee, he made national headlines for leading the first impeachment inquiry into former President Trump in 2020, and appeared in this race to resonate with the state’s Democratic voters worried about a second Trump term.

Schiff was kicked off the Intelligence Committee when Republicans took control of the House last year and was also censured last summer by the GOP-led Congress. He mentioned both incidents in his victory speech Tuesday night in Los Angeles, where he thanked the political heavyweights who endorsed his Senate campaign, including Pelosi and Boxer.

“But tonight, I also find myself thinking a great deal of Sen. Feinstein. Sen. Feinstein who was an incredible giant in the U.S. Senate. Somebody who was not afraid to take on the biggest fights, but somebody who also knew how to get things done,” he told the crowd.

But Schiff’s speech was interrupted by protesters chanting “Cease-fire now” — a reminder of the schisms within the Democratic party over the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Schiff has been a staunch supporter of Israel and has rebuffed calls for a cease-fire.

“We are so lucky to live in a democracy where we all have the right to protest,” Schiff said, over the shouts of protesters in the audience. “I want to acknowledge the right of our protesters, and I look forward to working with you all.”

Garvey, a star first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987, has never run for office before. He often struggled to articulate policy positions during his short campaign, and lagged behind his Democratic opponents in fundraising.

But Garvey managed to consolidate the Republican and conservative vote in the final weeks before the primary, and was likely aided by millions of dollars worth of ads that Schiff’s campaign produced in an effort to elevate him.

“Keep in mind, this is the first game of a doubleheader. So keep the evening of Nov. 5th open, as we will celebrate again,” Garvey told supporters at an election night party in Palm Desert after taking the stage to the Black Eyed Peas song, “I Gotta Feeling.”

Porter, a three-term congresswoman from a swing district in Orange County, ran as an outsider looking to shake things up. She has pushed to ban stock trading among members of Congress and attacked Schiff for taking corporate PAC money in past races.

But in a presidential primary election with no real competition at the top of the ticket, Porter was likely hurt by low voter turnout and a lack of engagement among younger voters and voters of color, two of her key constituencies.

“[Schiff] did get the institutional support of most of the California congressional delegation,” said Debbie Mesloh, a Democratic strategist who worked for Kamala Harris’ 2016 Senate campaign. “Unfortunately Porter did not enjoy that support.”

“Also with two women running, they cut the women’s endorsement votes, they cut the women’s donations,” Mesloh added.

The outcome likely marks the end of the 77-year-old Lee’s long political career: To run for the Senate, she had to forego another congressional run, and she will give up her House seat at the end of this term.

Lee, who is best known for her 2001 vote against war in Afghanistan and Iraq, was the only woman of color in the race and the staunchest progressive voice. But she struggled to raise money and introduce herself to voters after representing a safe Bay Area seat for more than a quarter century.