EX-BASEBALL STAR GARVEY LAUNCHES BID FOR SENATE
Former Padre will run for Feinstein’s seat as Republican
Former Padres star Steve Garvey made his foray into the crowded U.S. Senate race official Tuesday morning, launching a bid as a Republican.
For Garvey, who played 14 seasons with the Dodgers before playing with the Padres for five seasons, a move into the political arena isn’t much of a curveball. He’s advocated for fitness-related bills in Washington and considered a political career right after his retirement from baseball in 1987, though he was sidetracked by issues in his personal life for a while.
But Garvey says it is the increased animosity in politics, “the bickering back and forth” among politicians, that made him finally take the plunge.
“All through these years, I’ve had this wonderful life, but I’ve always been interested in politics,” Garvey, 74, said in an interview ahead of the announcement.
“The last few years, I’ve been more and more concerned about what’s happening in our society and the quality of our life and the dysfunction of Washington,” Garvey said. “I’ve got to stand up if there’s a way to actually run and be heard, and I think there is.”
So he’s running, Garvey said, to bring “a fresh voice with fresh ideas” to represent California.
Garvey helped lead the Dodgers to the World Series four times and was one of the stars of their 1981 championship; he also led the Padres to their first World Series appearance in 1984. Garvey was a 10-time AllStar and was selected as the National League’s MVP in 1974.
The squeakyclean image he maintained for much of his career was shattered by revelations of multiple affairs, children he fathered, a public divorce and strained-at-best relationships with his first two children. He receded from the spotlight for a long time after seemingly living in it for much of the 1970s and 1980s.
Much of the attention to that part of his life has faded, though, and he’s mainly remembered as a Southern California baseball great.
And after Sen. Dianne Feinstein — who died in late September — said early this year she wouldn’t run for reelection in 2024, Garvey started talking with consultants about a possible run and acknowledged that in June.
Several candidates are already running for the seat.
On the Democratic side, that includes Reps. Barbara Lee of Oakland, Katie Porter of Irvine and Adam Schiff of Burbank as well as former tech executive Lexi Reese.
It’s not yet clear if Sen. Laphonza Butler, a former union leader who was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newson and sworn into the Senate
following Feinstein’s death, plans to run as well.
On the Republican side, which includes Garvey, there’s attorney Eric Early, who unsuccessfully ran for attorney general in 2018 and 2022, as well as a few other contenders with no statewide name ID.
Garvey is drawing heavily on his baseball background in the race. His launch video juxtaposes coverage of his athletic career with his campaign message: “It’s time to get off the bench. It’s time to put the uniform on. It’s time to get back in the game,” he says in the spot.
Still, his entrance into the race raises several questions: Can a Republican win in a California where Democrats hold every statewide office and dominate the legislative and congressional delegations? Could a baseball star running on the GOP ticket be successful in a state where Republicans, who are outnumbered about 2-to-1 by Democratic voters, have struggled for years to find candidates for top offices?
The most recent time a Republican was elected to the U.S. Senate was 1988 when Pete Wilson won reelection to what would be his final term before becoming California’s governor.
And in the past two U.S. Senate races, Democrats outperformed Republicans by such a great margin that it was only the Democrats who advanced past the primary to make it into the November election.