Steve Garvey, the former Dodgers baseball star who is running for the U.S. Senate from California as a Republican, has reportedly moved into second place in several polls, behind Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and ahead of Schiff’s major Democratic rivals.
Breitbart News reported on Garvey’s long-shot bid last October:
On Tuesday, Garvey, a Republican and 10-time MLB All-Star who played 19 years for the Dodgers and the Padres, officially announced his bid for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died in September.
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Garvey focused on the California of the past: A place where dreams like his came true. He also emphasized the unity aspect of sports and how California has fallen from its place as a tone-setter for the country.
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California has not elected a Republican senator since Pete Wilson in 1988. However, in relatively recent years, Republicans with some star or celebrity appeal, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, have had some success in statewide elections.
Few gave Garvey a chance. But he could proceed to the general election under California’s “jungle” primary on March 5, in which all of the candidates from every party compete in the same pool, and the top two finishers advance to the November contest.
The San Jose Mercury News reported Sunday:
“A celebrity Republican is gaining traction in the polls, and he could advance to second place and keep us from qualifying for the general election,” warned a Thursday pitch from Orange County Democratic Rep. Katie Porter’s Senate campaign.
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The distress from Democrats comes after a recent Politico-Morning Consult poll vaulted the 10-time National League All-Star into second place over Porter and rival Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland. A Dec. 11 SurveyUSA poll also put Garvey second.
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Though defeating a Democrat in November would be much tougher for a Republican — Democrats enjoy a 2-to-1 advantage in party registration over the GOP — it raises the urgency now for the leading Democrats.
Schiff is the favorite to win both the primary and the general election, thanks to his success in fundraising off his role in leading the first impeachment effort against then-President Donald Trump, which still appeals to the Democratic base in California.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the 2021 e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now updated with a new foreword. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
