(ConservativeInsider.org) – Former Major League Baseball player Steve Garvey has officially advanced as the Republican candidate for Senate in California after Super Tuesday and will be facing off against Rep. Adam Schiff to fill Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)’s seat after her death last year.
Originally from Florida, Garvey played for the MLB from 1969 until 1987, playing first base for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. While he has no prior political experience, he is a household name in California among those who were alive during his baseball career. He has consistently used his background in baseball to speak to the public, saying that in his time in the MLB, he played for everyone, not just Republicans or Democrats.
After winning the primary on Super Tuesday, he compared the feeling to hitting a walk-off home run and winning the National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player award, which he did in 1984 when he was with the Padres.
Garvey has not been publicly campaigning much, aside from a trip to the Salton Sea to learn about environmental concerns in the area, as well as a trip to the southern border with Mexico in December. In January, he expressed his support for Israel by meeting up with Bay Area Jewish leaders.
Ironically, one of ways in which Garvey’s profile has been boosted was by his opponent, Schiff, who spent more than $11 million on ads attacking Garvey, emphasizing that Garvey voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020. The reason for this is because a quirk of California’s voting system means that the two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of party.
Schiff, who was facing off against two other Democrats, wanted to tip the scales in Garvey’s favor so his opponent in the general election was a Republican rather than a Democrat. Schiff’s campaign is banking on the California’s Democratic-leaning history, as Republicans have not claimed a Senate seat in the state in 35 years. According to voter registration records, Republicans only make up a quarter of California voters.
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