Long-suffering California Republicans will see something on the March ballot that might shock them: a U.S. Senate candidate whose name they recognize.
The state’s Republican Party has been in a decades-long tailspin in heavily Democratic California, where a GOP candidate hasn’t won a U.S. Senate race since 1988 and registered Democrats outnumber Republican voters by a staggering 2-to-1 margin.
This year, the candidacy of former Los Angeles Dodgers star Steve Garvey has brought a dash of celebrity to the race that has unsettled his Democratic rivals and tugged at the state’s political gravity.
As a Republican, the one-time National League MVP and perennial All-Star who also played for the San Diego Padres remains a long shot to fill the Senate seat long held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. But it’s also possible he could emerge as one of two candidates from a crowded March 5 primary election to advance to a November match-up.
Under California rules, Democrats and Republicans appear on the same primary ballot and the two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of political party. Republicans have struggled for years to enlist viable candidates for marquee offices — voters could choose from only two Democrats for Senate in the 2016 and 2018 general elections.
Since Garvey is competing in a field that includes three Democrats with high profiles in Congress — Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, and Adam Schiff — the primary math could work in his favor if Republican voters unite behind him. Even getting to November would be a small victory, if likely only a symbolic one.
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