Rep. Adam Schiff is a couple of steps away from becoming a U.S. Senator and hopes Republican baseball legend Steve Garvey will help him close the books on his Democratic rivals.
Known for his withering critiques of former President Donald Trump, Mr. Schiff leads the race to replace late Sen. Dianne Feinstein in California, where the top two vote-getters from Tuesday’s nonpartisan primary will advance to the November election.
“Schiff is the only candidate in the race who has what we talk about when we say MORE — he has money, organization, resources and he has endorsements,” said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University.
“He is the only one who has tied up all four,” he said.“So Schiff has been able to portray themselves as the de facto Democratic leader throughout the whole thing.”
Mr. Schiff has spent $39 million on his bid, easily outpacing his Democratic rivals — Rep. Katie Porter spent $23 million and Rep. Barbara Lee spent $4 million.
Mr. Garvey has spent $1.4 million.
Mr. Schiff also has endorsements from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Sen. Barbara Boxer and most of the state’s congressional delegation.
As a result, a good deal of the focus has been on the battle for second between Mr. Garvey and Ms. Porter who is beloved by progressives and known for her tough questioning of business and pharmaceutical company leaders.
The curveball here is that Mr. Schiff would like to see Mr. Garvey advance to the November election because he sees him as an easier out than Ms. Porter, who is running as the anti-Washington candidate and has accused Mr. Schiff of taking “dirty money.”
Republicans, meanwhile, hope Mr. Garvey can tap into some of the lingering star power from his playing days with the Los Angeles Dodgers and steer them out of the political wilderness in statewide races.
A Republican has not won statewide office in California since 2006. Democrats now hold a two-to-one voter registration advantage in California.
That’s why Mr. Garvey faces staggering odds if he advances to the general election, but his value to the GOP could be in forcing Democrats to spend money on the California Senate race that they would rather put into key House races.
“Where that helps you is down the ballot in Congressional District 22 or Congressional District 13 because, you know, those New York seats and these California seats that are held by Republicans in Biden won districts that’s where Democrats are going to put their resources to try to win back the house,” Mr. McCuan said.
Mr. Garvey is running as a moderate Republican who can build consensus in Washington. He voted for former President Donald Trump twice, but will not say whether he will support him again if given the chance in November.
“My opponents are voting 96 [or] 97% straight down party lines,” he said in a recent interview. I guarantee I will not vote like that.”
Ms. Porter, meanwhile, is running against “career politicians” and casting herself as a champion for working-class Californians and a thorn in the side of the Washington establishment.
“If we keep doing things how they’ve always been done, our biggest crises — like housing costs and climate — will get worse,” she said this week on social media. “We need to shake up the status quo.”
Ms. Lee also is running as the most progressive candidate in the race. She is the sole candidate calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Palestinian conflict and promoting a $50 federal minimum wage.
Mr. Garvey could end up getting a boost from Nikki Haley’s decision to stay in the GOP presidential race against Mr. Trump — a move that could help keep Republicans engaged and to turn out on Super Tuesday.
That would be good news for Mr. Schiff, who has spent millions airing campaign commercials framing the contest as a two-person race between himself and Mr. Garvey and tying the Republican to Mr. Trump.
Analysts say Mr. Schiff wants to elevate Mr. Garvey to kneecap Ms. Porter.
Emerson College released a poll Thursday showing Mr. Schiff leading the pack with 28% of the vote, followed by Mr. Garvey with 20%, Ms. Porter with 17%, and Ms. Lee with 8%.
“Both Garvey and Porter are within the poll’s margin of error for second place in a race where a top-two finish would place them on the ballot in November,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling.
The seat in California opened up last year following Feinstein’s death. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler, a political activist, to the seat, but she is not running to keep it.
For his part, Mr. Schiff has been the prohibitive favorite since he jumped into the race in a state where Democrats overwhelmingly share many of his policy positions.
A member of the House since 2001, Mr. Schiff is running on his record. He touts the lead role he played in the first impeachment trial against Mr. Trump and as a member of the House select committee that investigated the role Mr. Trump played in inciting the Jan. 6, 2001, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Mr. Schiff wants to raise taxes on wealthy individuals, corporations and oil companies. He wants to abolish the 60-vote filibuster in the Senate to pave the way for enacting progressive priorities, including raising the federal minimum wage to $20 per hour, expanding abortion protections and enacting new gun restrictions.
“This is a race between results and rhetoric, and I think voters are going to choose results,” Mr. Schiff said in a recent interview with Cal Matters.