Californian Republican Senate candidate Steve Garvey took aim at California Rep. Adam Schiff during Monday night's Senate debate.
Golden State Senate candidates faced off last night in a debate hosted by Fox 11 and moderated by the network's Elex Michaelson. Candidates included Democratic California Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee, along with lone-Republican candidate and former MLB All-Star Steve Garvey.
During the debate, Garvey said Schiff was censured in the House last year for lying about probes into then-President Donald Trump's alleged Russian collusion while Schiff was chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
"I was censured for standing up to a corrupt president. And you know something? I would do it all over again," Schiff told Garvey. "That corrupt president ... has been indicted with 91 felony counts, that president that you won’t refuse to support. Yeah, he’s a danger, and I will stand up to him and (former House Speaker) Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan and any of those MAGA enablers of his in the Congress."
Schiff said democracy is at stake in America because "folks don't have the courage to stand up when they need to."
"Sir, you lied to 300 million people," Garvey responded. "You can't take that back."
Schiff, Porter, Lee, and Garvey are vying for former Senator Dianne Feinstein's seat, which was vacated after Feinstein's death last September. Feinstein served as Mayor of San Francisco and briefly sought a gubernatorial run before her 30-year Senate career. California Gov. Gavin Newsom tapped labor union official Laphonza Butler to finish the duration of Feinstein's term, which ends next January.
Newsom's appointment was called into question as critics noted Butler appears to have been a resident of Maryland as recently as Aug. 31, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
According to other FEC and California Fair Political Practices Commission (FFPC) filings, Butler has not resided in California in over two years.
In late-October, Butler announced she would not seek a full term in the Senate in 2024.
“I believe leaders should have real clarity about why they’re in office and what they want to do with the power they hold,” she told The New York Times in a statement.
According to a Jan. 18 Emerson College poll, Schiff appears to hold a 7-point lead over runner-up Garvey. Porter trails Garvey by 5 points, followed by Lee with 9% support.
