The Congressman from Hollywood is one big step closer to becoming the Golden State’s junior Senator.
In the double header that is California’s primary this Super Tuesday, Schiff looks to be in the top spot with just under 40% of the vote in. NBC News and the Associated Press called it for Schiff just over 30 minutes after the polls closed in the nation’s most populous state at 8 pm PT. The veteran Congressman is expected to address supporters at Avalon on Vine Street soon.
Representing Burbank for over 20 years, Schiff is running for the seat that the late Dianne Feinstein held since 1992 until her death last September. With his district encompassing Disney, Warner Bros and more, cable news regular Schiff has garnered support from the high profiles fans such as Nancy Pelosi, Jon Hamm and Billy Crystal in this race.
For a while it looked like the battle zone would shift to second place race. Would Schiff face fellow Democrat Kate Porter or Republican Steve Garvey in November? That dust-up didn’t last very long if the eventual results equal the trajectory we’re seeing so far.
“Welcome to the California comeback,” Garvey told his supporters as his lead over Porter proved insurmountable. “We haven’t come this far to only go this far,” he added in a speech that sounded very Ronald Reagan. Hell, Garvey even mentioned a 1984 Dodgers game in his remarks.
Schiff snagged 37% of the vote, while political novice Garvey took 29% to three-term Orange County Congresswoman Porter’s 15%. Beloved Oakland Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who many thought Gov. Gavin Newsom would appoint to serve out the remainder of Fienstein’s term, is in a far fourth with 7% of the votes tallied.
Under the jungle primary rules in California, where all candidates for elected office run in the same primary no matter their political party, and the top two vote-winners move forward, Schiff has strategically worked almost harder for Garvey than the ex-Dodger player did for himself.
On a not-so Super Tuesday that saw Joe Biden and Donald Trump hover up delegates in their respective long marches towards the GOP and Democrats conventions this summer, Garvey coming in second place allows Schiff to sidestep the bloody Blue State civil war that would surely emerge if Porter was his November rival.
In a state that hasn’t elected a Republican to state office in decades, another benefit for longtime Congressman Schiff in a race against Garvey is the cost saving.
A big fundraiser, the former lead House Manager in the first Senate impeachment trial of the ex-Celebrity Apprentice host will save millions not just from his own coffers but from the accounts of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. Which California as close to a sure thing as you can get in American politics, the DSCC can allocate funds to closer races like Montana incumbent Jon Tester.
Aside from the Senate race, the bid for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office and Gov. Newsom’s mental heath and homelessness focused Proposition 1 are also possible game changers in the Golden State.
Having beaten back two recall efforts since his 2020 victory, current LA DA George Gascón this election is up against 11 challengers, five of whom are from his own office. The most recent result have Gascón with 23% to 18% for Nathan Hoffman. The largest fundraiser in the DA race, former federal prosecutor Hoffman was unsuccessful in 2022 in his bid to be the Republican nominee for California Attorney General. With two very different views of the role of the D.A., if crime is rising or declining in the nation’s largest county, and reform, Gascón and Hoffman will go at it again in November.
There is a bit of déjà vu to their race.
Funded by big donations from Netflix founder Reed Hastings and other Hollywood luminaries, former San Francisco D.A. and ex-LAPD officer Gascón took down incumbent Jackie Lacey in a bitter and close 2020 face-off.
Backed by a bipartisan support in Sacramento and with a big push from Gov. Newsom, Proposition 1 is the only statewide measure on the ballot this year. A mix of two bills passed by the legislature, the Behavioral Health Services Program and Bond Measure, as it is formally known, would authorize the state to raise over $6 billion in bonds for housing for those living on the streets. Currently holding a slight lead in the incoming results, Prop 1 also aims to create facilities for those with mental health and substance use issues.