Rep. Adam Schiff has won the late Dianne Feinstein's U.S. Senate seat, beating out GOP challenger and former MLB star Steve Garvey, The Associated Press projected Tuesday night.
Garvey, who refused to ask for an endorsement from former President Trump and embraced being a "conservative moderate," congratulated Schiff during an election night appearance with his supporters.
"I want you to know that, despite the outcome, that when the counting is over, we will have gotten the fourth most number of votes in the country," Garvey said. "This means that everyone in California does have a voice, and it will only grow louder and louder.
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"I want to sincerely thank you for your support and vote. It was an honor to be your nominee and represent you around this great state of ours, to discuss the issues and ideas that we care about most — the cost of living, fixing our homeless crisis, making our communities safe, improving our public schools and securing our border," Garvey said.
The Los Angeles-area congressman, who rose to national prominence as the lead prosecutor in President Trump’s first impeachment trial, defeated a Republican former baseball star who had tried to parlay his sports celebrity into a political career.
Schiff, who was favored to win in deeply blue California, did not immediately release a statement.
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Garvey, a former MLB first baseman, spent a week in Israel as part of his campaign efforts earlier this year to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in California and set himself apart from his Democratic opponent during the college campus riots.
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 a fresh perspective to deal with California’s long-running homeless crisis, inflation and housing costs.
Feinstein, a Democrat 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 after Feinstein’s death and decided not to seek a full term this year.
Republicans in California have struggled in recent years to gain momentum in their campaigns, often overshadowed by a Democratic trifecta.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
