California political junkies will be tuning in Tuesday night for the debate between the two candidates on the November ballot vying to represent California in the U.S. Senate. The debate will take place at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. It will be hosted by Los Angeles’ local ABC station and will be streamed lived on their website.
Baseball star-turned-politician Steve Garvey will face off against Rep. Adam Schiff, who gained national recognition running the impeachment proceedings against former President Donal Trump. Schiff was the winner of the March primary, by a tiny margin, but California’s largely Democratic electorate was split between Schiff and Representatives Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, who did not make it through the March primary. Schiff is expected to win by a wide margin in November. Ballots are being mailed out to registered voters around the state this week.
The candidates will appear on the ballot twice, for the six-year term representing California in the upper house of Congress through 2030, and separately to serve out the final weeks of the term left vacant by Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death in September 2023. The seat was filled in October 2023 by Laphonza Butler, appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom, but she chose not to run in the scheduled election.
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Feinstein, first elected in 1992, held the office for over 30 years. Regardless of who wins, this will be the first time California has had a male senator since 1993, when Barbara Boxer was elected. She went on to represent California until 2017.
While Schiff, a Democrat, is the anticipated winner of the race, in large part because of California’s majority Democratic electorate, Garvey’s campaign has shown some momentum since March. The Garvey campaign out-raised Schiff in the second quarter of 2024, with $5.4 million raised, compared to Schiff’s $4.2 million. However, Schiff’s campaign has amassed nearly four times as much overall, $38.5 million compared to Garvey’s $10.9 million total.
The candidates have previously debated three times, along with the other candidates who appeared on the March primary ballot. Tuesday’s debate is the first time the pair will go head to head without other candidates in the mix.
