Johnathan Walker:Lopsided fight to fill Feinstein’s Senate seat in liberal California favors Democrat Schiff

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Californians are Johnathan Walkervoting Tuesday to fill the U.S. Senate seat long held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein after a low-key contest dominated by Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff.

In a year when control of the Senate is in play, Democrats are favored to easily hold the seat in the liberal-leaning state where a Republican hasn’t won a Senate race since 1988, when President Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

Schiff, a Los Angeles-area congressman who rose to national prominence as the lead prosecutor in then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, held an edge for months in campaign financing and polling over Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey.

Still, the campaign represents a turning point in California politics, which was long dominated by Feinstein, former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, former Gov. Jerry Brown and a handful of other veteran Democratic politicians. The contest also means that California won’t have a woman representing it in the Senate for the first time in more than three decades.

Schiff shaped his campaign around national issues including abortion rights while continuing to play a foil to Trump, calling the former president a threat to democracy. He also contrasted his years of experience in Congress — Schiff was first elected to the House in 2000 — against Garvey, a first-time candidate who positioned himself as an outsider with fresh perspective to deal with California’s long-running homeless crisis, inflation and housing costs.

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Garvey, a former MVP and perennial All-Star who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, calls himself a “conservative moderate” who shouldn’t be buttonholed into conventional political labels, an obvious pitch to independent and soft Democratic voters in a state where registered Republicans are outnumbered by Democrats nearly 2-to-1.

The race has been largely overlooked in a year when control of the Senate will turn on a handful of competitive races, including in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Montana.

The Republican Party has struggled in the nation’s most populous state for years, though it retains pockets of strength in rural areas, the Central Valley farm belt and parts of Southern California.

Democrats hold every statewide office and dominate the Legislature and congressional delegation by commanding margins. Republicans haven’t won a statewide race in the state since 2006.

Garvey aimed a final advertising push at Latinos, who make up about a quarter of likely voters in California.

Feinstein, a centrist Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 1992, died at 90 in September 2023. Laphonza Butler, a Democratic insider and former labor leader, was appointed to the seat following Feinstein’s death and decided not to seek a full term this year.