Schiff and Garvey will advance to California Senate general election

By Arit John, CNN

(CNN) — Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey have advanced to the general election in the open primary for California’s open Senate seat, setting up an uphill battle for the state’s beleaguered GOP.

Schiff and Garvey were competing in two Senate contests Tuesday: one to fill the remainder of the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s term, from November until January; and another for a full six-year term beginning January 2025.

The incumbent senator, Democrat Laphonza Butler, was appointed to the seat last fall after Feinstein’s death. Butler announced shortly after that she would not seek a full term.

Under California’s open primary system, all candidates run on the same ballot, and the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, move on to the general election. In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-to-1, the seat is heavily favored to stay blue in November.

Garvey beat two Democratic congresswomen – Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee – to secure a place on the general election ballot, despite raising a fraction of what his opponents did and airing no TV ads.

In the final weeks of the campaign, Schiff and his allies spent millions on ads attacking Garvey as “too conservative” for California – a move strategists said was meant to boost Republican turnout. Garvey, who raised just $2.1 million through February 14, compared with Schiff’s $31 million, did not spend any money on TV ads.

Some progressives argued that, by encouraging more Republicans to vote, Schiff’s strategy would inadvertently lead to higher GOP turnout in down-ballot races. Porter called the ad strategy “brazenly cynical” and accused Schiff of misrepresenting how conservative Garvey is – the former baseball player voted for Donald Trump twice but has left the door open to voting for President Joe Biden in 2024.

But Porter also started highlighting another Republican, businessman Eric Early, in digital ads and during the final Senate debate, arguing that he was the real pro-Trump candidate in the race. The move was seen as an effort to split the Republican vote.

Porter defended her attacks on Early, arguing that Schiff was being misleading about Garvey’s record while she was setting the record straight.

During the general election, Schiff will likely continue to emphasize his profile as one of the chief  Trump antagonists in the House, a role bolstered by his work on the former president’s impeachment and various other Trump investigations.  Last year, Republicans removed Schiff from the House Intelligence Committee and voted to censure him over his role investigating the former president, which Schiff called a “badge of honor.”

Garvey will face new pressure to fundraise and more clearly lay out what policies he supports. In primary debates, he often deferred on where he stood on key issues and tried to straddle the line between supporting Trump and distancing himself from the former president.

Schiff, Porter and Lee entered the race early last year, while Garvey launched his campaign in October.

Feinstein, who held the seat for more than 30 years, announced last February that she would not seek re-election. She died in September at age 90.

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