Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey are headed for a November runoff in the race for California’s open U.S. Senate seat as early returns put them well ahead of Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee in the crowded field.
The Bay Area’s races for two open seats in the U.S. House of Representatives saw former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo out front in early returns while Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and Assemblyman Evan Low battled for second place in the South Bay’s 16th District. All three are Democrats running for the seat of retiring Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo.
In the East Bay’s 12th District, Democrat and BART board director Lateefah Simon was leading the field while fellow Democrats Jennifer Tran and Tony Daysog were in a close race for second place for the seat Lee is giving up to run for the Senate.
The final results won’t be known until all the precincts and ballots are counted. In California’s “top-two” primary, the two candidates with the most votes in the congressional races will compete against each other in the November general election regardless of party affiliation. If the early results hold, it will a be a two-party contest.
Schiff thanked supporters Tuesday night as results put him in the lead.
“You had my back every step of the way,” Schiff said. During the campaign, he avoided criticizing either of the Democratic women representatives competing with him for the seat, who political analysts said posed a greater threat to him in November than a Republican. Instead, he attacked Garvey as “too conservative for California” — drawing criticism from Porter that he was helping the Republican defeat her and boost his November odds.
In heavily Democratic California, where Democrats enjoy a 2-1 advantage over Republicans in party registration, the party is expected to keep the open Senate seat held more than 30 years by late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, now occupied by Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler, who was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and will step down after the election.
But that hasn’t kept a stunning amount of donor money from pouring into the Senate race, with some $70 million being spent by the top four candidates alone and more than $16 million by outside political action committees looking to steer the outcome just in the primary.
And it wasn’t blunting Garvey’s optimism that he could overcome the long odds for a Republican in November.
“As we celebrate tonight — I want you to know that we haven’t come this far, to only go this far,” Garvey told supporters in Palm Springs. “They say in the general election that we’re going to strike out . . . Well know this — it ain’t over, till it’s over. It’s true in baseball and it’s true in politics.”
Porter shortly after polls closed and results showed her in third place that “we don’t yet know the results of the election, but I am so grateful for every single supporter.”
“Because California is a heavy vote by mail state, we rarely know the results of competitive races right away,” Porter told supporters in an email. “It’s important that every vote be counted, and I’ll keep you updated as vote counts roll in.”
Lee also thanked supporters shortly before polls closed.
“We were able to get our message out to people,” Lee said. “But I think what’s important in terms of Barbara Lee for Senate is that people understand that I see them, hear them, that I want to make their lives better, and that I’m experienced.”
Schiff, of Burbank, a former federal prosecutor and state lawmaker who has served in the House of Representatives since 2001 and gained national exposure leading the first impeachment case against former Republican President Donald Trump, has consistently led the field in both fundraising and polling.
Schiff enjoyed support from more than 300 other California elected officials including 80% of the state’s Democratic congressional delegation including Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker, as well as the backing of 18 statewide labor unions.
Katie Porter, of Irvine, a consumer advocate who has built up a colorful persona using a pen and whiteboard to emphasize points while grilling corporate executives in hearings since she first was elected in 2018, has been Schiff’s biggest threat in the race from the political left, raising significant funds to stay competitive.
Porter was backed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, California Rep. Robert Garcia, several state lawmakers including Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Assembly members Buffy Wicks of Oakland and Alex Lee of Milpitas, as well as the Consumer Federation of California.
Lee, of Oakland, who has served in the House since 1998, was a favorite of the Democrats’ far-left progressive wing best known as the sole vote against military action in Afghanistan following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., in 2001.
Lee was backed by Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna, Maxine Waters, Mark DeSaulnier and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, state Senators including Nancy Skinner and the California Legislative Black Caucus. Lee appealed to progressives as a Black woman whose lived experience battling discrimination and poverty deserves a voice in Congress, but struggled to raise money and never polled above fourth place.
Garvey, of Palm Desert, a 10-time All-Star and World Series star for the Dodgers in 1981 and the Padres in 1984, is a political rookie making his first bid for public office in a long-shot bid to give California Republicans their first victory in a statewide race since 2006 and first U.S. Senate win since Pete Wilson in 1988.
Garvey, backed by police unions, vaulted with his baseball stardom over 10 lesser-known Republicans despite not raising anything close to Schiff or Porter. He has appealed to voters’ frustrations with the state’s problems with housing costs, homelessness, crime, drugs and illegal immigration that have worsened under Democratic leadership.
While all 52 California House seats in Congress were up for reelection, only seven are open races with no incumbents, including those now held by Schiff, Porter and Lee, and the seat of former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, who resigned after losing the speakership in a GOP quarrel. Only 10 California races are considered somewhat competitive, but just four are considered true toss-ups — those held by Republicans Ken Calvert, Mike Garcia, David Valadao and John Duarte.
The competitive 16th district in the South Bay race drew nine Democrats and two Republicans, and though it is considered a safely Democratic seat it has become the state’s most expensive House race, with candidates spending nearly $6 million and Super PACs more than $2.4 million in the primary. Democratic tech entrepreneur and veteran Peter Dixon amassed nearly $2.8 million largely from his own wealth, followed by Sam Liccardo with $2.2 million, Evan Low with $1.4 million and Joe Simitian with $1 million.
The contest for Lee’s 12th District in the East Bay has been dominated by Lateefah Simon, whom she endorsed, and who was one of only two elected office-holders along with Daysog, Alameda vice mayor, among the seven Democrats and two Republicans to contend for the seat.