Republican Steve Garvey outraised his Democratic opponent Adam Schiff in California’s U.S. Senate race from April 1 through June 30 by over $1 million, despite recent polls showing Garvey more than 20 points behind in the deep blue state.
The baseball star and political rookie, Garvey, got 31.5% of the vote in the March primary, coming in second to Congressman Schiff, who got 31.6% of the vote. Democratic voters were split between several big-name Democrats, including East Bay Rep. Barbara Lee and progressive Southern California Rep. Katie Porter.
Garvey’s campaign reported raising over $5.4 million in the second quarter of 2024, while Schiff’s campaign raised $4.2 million during the same period.
In a press release, Garvey’s campaign celebrated that they had outraised Schiff in the most recent reporting period. According to Garvey’s campaign, “110,000 individuals contributed… with 67,000 individuals in the second quarter of 2024 alone.”
Schiff’s campaign did not release any comments. Communications director Marisol Samayoa said the data “speaks for itself,” but the campaign used the news to try to fundraise in an email sent Tuesday afternoon. “Folks, I have some concerning news in my Senate race,” Schiff said in the email, asking supporters to “help make up this fundraising gap now.”
Despite the latest quarterly totals, Schiff’s campaign has amassed nearly four times as much as his November opponent, $38.5 million in all to Garvey’s $10.9 million.
And $11 million is not enough to win a Senate race in California, according to Bill Whalen, a distinguished policy fellow at the Hoover Institution.
“If you’re going to run a truly competitive race in California, you need $20 to $30 million, probably,” he said.
Whalen doesn’t expect a lot of outside money to flow in to float Garvey’s boat, either, as Republicans nationally will be focusing their attention and money on states where Democrats are on the defensive.
“California is not one of those states,” he said. “This is a state where Schiff is expected to coast to victory.”
“You would have to essentially carve off Los Angeles and San Francisco,” Whalen said, “and float them out to sea to make this a cliffhanger of an election.”
Garvey and Schiff will face off in November, when voters will also decide whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden will be the next president.
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