Steve Garvey: Ex-MLB Star Inches Toward Becoming First Republican California Senator Since 1988

The possibility that California could send its first Republican to the United States Senate since 1988 inched closer to reality this week, according to a new poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times.

Garvey is a retired Major League Baseball star who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1969 through 1982, where he was an eight-time All Star and won the 1975 National League Most Valuable Player award.

In the race to replace longtime Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died in office at age 90 last September, Republican Steve Garvey is now running third, with 13 percent, just four points behind Democrat Katie Porter, a US House member from Orange County.

Another Democrat, Burbank-based House member Adam Schiff, leads the crowded field with 21 percent, according to the UC Berkeley poll. A third congressional Democrat, Oakland’s Barbara Lee, trailed in fourth place at 9 percent. The remainder of the poll’s respondents divided their support among the other 23 candidates running, or said they were undecided.

California’s primary election is set for March 5. Unless one candidate pulls in more than 50 percent of the vote, which appears unlikely, the top two finishers advance to a head-to-head showdown in November.

Porter, a favorite of the Democratic party’s progressive wing, is feeling threatened by Garvey’s sudden surge, if her latest fundraising emails to supporters are any indication. According to a report by the Mercury News, which has Garvey in second place in the race, the mailer raised alarm over “a celebrity Republican” who could “keep us from qualifying for the general election.”

Garvey, a native of Tampa, Fla., who at 75 is second only to 77-year-old Lee as the oldest major candidate in the race, is a retired Major League Baseball star who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1969 through 1982, where he was an eight-time All Star and won the 1975 National League Most Valuable Player award. He played in four World Series with the Dodgers, finally winning one in 1981.

Compared to the far right wing leanings of the Republican party in Washington DC, Garvey appears to be staking out less extreme positions on issues.

He finished his baseball career in San Diego as a member of the Padres from 1983 until 1987, making two more NL All Star appearances and playing in the 1984 World Series, again on the losing side, with that team.

Despite having no political experience and being out of Major League Baseball for 35 years—and waiting until October of 2023 to announce his candidacy—Garvey remains a popular figure. According to a Politico/Morning Consult poll in December, his name recognition in California is significantly higher than that of the current U.S. Senator, Laphonza Butler. In the poll, just 22 percent of Californians said they did not recognize Garvey’s name, while 37 percent said the same about Butler.

Compared to the far right wing leanings of the Republican party in Washington DC, Garvey appears to be staking out less extreme positions on issues, according to a report by KRON TV in San Francisco.  He says he opposes a national abortion ban, supports “very stringent background checks” for gun purchases, and is in favor of continued aid to Ukraine in its war against a Russian invasion.

Pete Wilson was reelected to the Senate from California in 1988, but cut his term short to run for, and win, the governor’s race. No Republican has won a California Senate seat since.