The sparks started flying between U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff and former L.A. Dodgers star Steve Garvey minutes into their only one-on-one debate, as both accused each other of failing Californians.
In an hour-long televised forum this evening for the U.S. Senate seat 鈥� held by Dianne Feinstein until her death last year 鈥� the two traded verbal jabs and clashed over a range of issues, including reproductive rights, gun control and immigration.
Garvey, a Palm Desert Republican, portrayed Schiff as a 鈥渃areer politician鈥� who has done little to serve California residents during his tenure. 鈥淭his man hasn鈥檛 done anything over the last 24 years on any of these things that have given us any consistency in life,鈥� Garvey said.
Schiff, a Burbank Democrat who has served in Congress since 2001, in turn depicted Garvey as a supporter of former President Donald Trump who has experience in professional sports, not politics. 鈥淲hile Mr. Garvey was signing baseballs for the last 37 years, I was seeing presidents of both parties and governors of both parties sign my bills into law,鈥� Schiff said.
The heated exchanges contrasted with the dynamic of the race, which has largely been quiet and static after the March primary, in which Schiff spent millions boosting Garvey to elbow out his Democratic opponents, U.S. Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee. Schiff has consistently dominated Garvey in and has raised more money than his GOP opponent overall 鈥� enough to .
Garvey, on the other hand, has run a much more low-key campaign and stayed close to home 鈥� except for a summer trip to Israel. He fundraised for his own campaign while skipping out on the California Republican Party convention and the Republican National Convention. He鈥檚 also conducted interviews with local TV stations and appeared at local festivals.
Here鈥檚 more on some of the key issues during the debate hosted by ABC7 in Los Angeles and the League of Women Voters of California:
Abortion
Garvey, noting that he is Catholic, said he pledged to support the will of Californians on reproductive rights. In November 2022, California voters enshrined the right to abortion and contraception into the state constitution, which Garvey acknowledged.
Garvey has said he believes reproductive freedom is a state-by-state issue. In January, . And in July, he said he , which ended decades of federal protection for abortion and relegated the decision making power to the states.
Schiff said he supports making the right to abortion a federal law and hammered Garvey for supporting the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 .
鈥淚f my colleague was listening to the voices of Californians as he claims, he would hear their voices loud and clear: Californians want a national right to reproductive freedom and they don鈥檛 want the government in the business of making that decision for women,鈥� Schiff said. 鈥淚鈥檓 for reproductive freedom, Mr. Garvey. You are not.鈥�
鈥楥ourt packing鈥�
Schiff has blamed the decision overturning Roe on the high court鈥檚 conservative majority and from nine justices to 13.
鈥淲hat I care about is that a small number of conservative justices, who lied about their plans to the Senate, intend to deprive millions of women of reproductive care,鈥� he said.
In response, Garvey repeatedly accused Schiff of supporting court packing 鈥� a partisan ploy to change the number of justices to achieve a desired outcome. It can be done in theory, but past efforts have , ABC News reported.
Garvey argued that Schiff鈥檚 support for nationwide abortion rights, gun control measures and abolishing the filibuster 鈥� which in effect requires 60 votes to pass legislation in the U.S. Senate 鈥� show that Schiff wants to pack the court and 鈥渄econstruct鈥� the Constitution.
In response, Schiff said U.S. Supreme Court justices should be 鈥渞ebalanced鈥� and term limited, held by a stronger set of ethics code.
鈥淎s for packing the court, Mr. Garvey, in case you weren鈥檛 paying attention, it鈥檚 already been packed,鈥� Schiff said, referring to the conservative majority.
Guns
Garvey, who told CalMatters last year he , did not say whether he changed his position tonight. Instead, he focused solely on pre-sale background checks.
鈥淚 think that the most important thing is a stringent background check that goes much deeper than it is today in order to preserve the integrity of the Second Amendment and to be able to provide for people to defend themselves,鈥� he said.
Schiff said he supports a universal background check law, as well as a ban on assault weapons and extended ammunition clips. He would also 鈥渟trip away the (National Rifle Association)鈥檚 immunity from liability,鈥� he said.
Donald Trump
Schiff 鈥� who led the first impeachment against Donald Trump 鈥� has continued to slam the former president as an unfit leader. In his own race, he has attempted to tie Garvey 鈥� who has voted for Trump twice and who plans to vote for him again 鈥� to Trump, accusing Garvey tonight of being a 鈥淢AGA Mini-Me in a baseball uniform.鈥�
Garvey, on the other hand, said Schiff鈥檚 focus on his impeachment effort against Trump prohibits him from addressing the needs of Californians, arguing that it would be the 鈥渕ost toxic鈥� Senate if Schiff got elected.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine, Mr. Schiff, how you can get up every morning and have one mission, and that鈥檚 to go after Donald Trump,鈥� Garvey said. 鈥淗ow can you think about one man every day and focus on that when you鈥檝e got millions of people in California to take care of?鈥�
But Schiff wore his outspokenness against Trump as a badge of honor, arguing he 鈥渟tood up to a corrupt president鈥� and witnessed as Trump 鈥渋ncited鈥� a mob storming the Capitol building.
Immigration
Tonight, Garvey described the border as 鈥渁n existential crisis鈥� created by President Joe Biden. While border crossings spiked under Biden, he has pushed for tougher border restrictions, including expanded executive authority to and .
But Garvey in La Opini贸n against mass deportation of illegal immigrants, which if he returns to the White House. Instead, Garvey argued the federal government should increase funding to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, strengthen border security and expedite family-based green card applications. He advocated for shutting down the border 鈥渢emporarily.鈥�
Additionally, Garvey said he supports reinstating the Trump-era policy keeping asylum seekers in Mexico while their applications are pending. He opposed 鈥渃atch and release,鈥� which, instead of detaining a migrant, allows them to return to the community while they wait for an immigration court hearing.
Schiff said tonight the government needs to 鈥済et control of the border,鈥� advocating for more personnel and technology to help with border patrol while also ensuring humane treatment of migrants.
鈥淲e can have both a strong border but also treat people as human beings,鈥� he said.
Schiff has criticized policies detaining migrants, calling the conditions at some detention centers He has supported increased funding to add more judges and interpreters at immigration courts, more resources to enhance border inspections and expanded humanitarian support for asylum seekers.
He also supports the U.S. Citizenship Act, which for some Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and undocumented immigrants if they pass the background checks and have worked in the country for at least five years.
Schiff and Garvey are vying for the support of Latino voters, who are despite comprising the largest racial and ethnic group statewide. As part of an 鈥渁ll-in Latino community strategy,鈥� on Oct. 4, Garvey鈥檚 campaign aired its first statewide TV ads 鈥� only in Spanish 鈥� as part of a $5 million ad buy.
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