Adam Schiff now holds the Senate seat that belonged to Dianne Feinstein for three decades.
Surprising no one, the Democratic longtime congressman from Hollywood easily beat Republican and former Los Angeles Dodgers great Steve Garvey tonight. The Associated Press called the race for Schiff mere seconds after the polls closed in California. The Golden State and its 54 Electoral College votes went solidly for Vice President Kamala Harris in a very close race with Donald Trump.
Seeing his seat in California’s 30th District likely going to fellow Democrat Laura Friedman over GOP contender Alex Balekian, Schiff will take over from incumbent Sen. Laphonza Butler until early next year. Butler announced not long after Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed the former Emily’s List chief in late 2023 to fill out the deceased Feinstein’s seat, that she would not seeking a full Senate term for herself. Schiff will begin serving a full six-year term on January 3.
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A protégé of former House Speaker and Democratic queenpin Nancy Pelosi and an alum of Donald Trump’s impeachment trials, Schiff’s real electoral battle this year was winning his party’s very competitive primary back in March. With Feinstein being in office from 1992-2023, and current Vice President Kamala Harris taking over Barbara Boxer’s seat in 2016 before becoming Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020 and a candidate for the White House herself this year, the primary was the first truly competitive race among the Dems in decades.
To ward off having to face another Democrat like Katie Porter on Election Day under California’s “top two” rule, Schiff’s campaign boosted Garvey’s bid. Since the dust settled in the spring, neither Schiff nor Garvey has spent a lot of time on the campaign trail in their home state. Besides a sometimes very personal October debate between the candidates, Garvey and Schiff spent a lot of their respective time in other states.
A big draw among Democrats, Schiff has been out in battleground states for the VP as well as campaigning with other down-ticket Dems including the re-election run of Nevada’s Sen. Jacky Rosen.
Schiff’s win tonight means that with Sen. Alex Padilla, who was appointed to serve out the rest of Harris’ term in late 2020 and won election himself in 2022, California has two male senators for the first time since Year 1 of Bill Clinton’s presidency.
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