Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff leads the race for California’s open U.S. Senate seat.
A poll from the University of California, Berkeley, found that 53% of Californians who were sure to vote in November supported Schiff. Steve Garvey, a Republican who used to play first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres and got 33% of the vote, was 20 points behind him.
The poll was open from July 31 to August 11, and most of the people who answered were in line with their party’s choice for Senate candidate. Schiff got 84% of the support of Democrats who were registered to vote. Eighty-eight percent of Republicans who were registered said they would like Garvey to fill the open Senate seat, Newsweek reported.
Eighty-eight percent of those who answered said they were “strongly conservative,” and they also supported Garvey. Schiff won over 94% of Californians who said they are “strongly liberal.”
Mark DiCamillo, head of UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies Poll, said, “Because Democrats and liberals outnumber Republicans and conservatives in California by wide margins, this gives Schiff a considerable edge in the race.”
According to the poll released Thursday, one of the most important things that likely voters look for in a candidate this fall is whether they “would be a strong voice in defending abortion rights for women in the Senate.”
55% of those who answered said that a candidate’s views on abortion were important to their vote. Schiff, who is 64 years old, has spoken out in favor of abortion rights and has asked the federal government to protect the process. In the 1970s and 1980s, Garvey was a major league baseball star. He has said that he is personally against abortion but would “support the voice of the people of California” on the matter.
A poll from UC Berkeley also found that 44% of likely voters in California want a candidate who “supports tougher immigration laws.” However, only 21% of those who said they would vote for Schiff said that immigration policy is very important to them. On the other hand, 84% of likely voters who backed Garvey said that stricter immigration rules were necessary.
Andy Gharakhani, Steve Garvey’s campaign manager, told Newsweek via email, “For Adam Schiff to only be at 53% and to be losing in fundraising to Steve Garvey this last quarter, after decades in politics, is evidence enough that the momentum in this election is behind Steve Garvey.”
“While Adam Schiff has already spent tens of millions of dollars on advertising and is well-defined with voters, Californians are listening to Steve Garvey with an open mind,” Gharakhani wrote. “Steve Garvey has yet to utilize his campaign war chest to communicate his message of commonsense, compassion, and consensus building directly to voters.”
Garvey, who helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series in 1981, says he wants to revive the “heartbeat” of that once-great state.
Garvey played 14 years for the Dodgers and another five for the San Diego Padres between 1969 and 1987.
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“My whole life has been based on, you know, team building and putting teams together with comparable skills, leadership, dedication, and passion,” he said. “It doesn’t stop just with sports teams. It goes all the way into business and politics, into religion, and all those things.”
Meanwhile, Schiff, who pushed a ‘Trump-Russia collusion’ hoax for years during and after the former president’s term, is under fire over claims that he has been claiming two primary residences in Maryland and California for more than ten years while taking advantage of homeowner tax breaks.
Tax records reveal that 2017 was the only year Schiff paid property taxes in California using a personal check bearing his Maryland address, adding fuel to the controversy.
