Since March Senate Primaries when Steve Garvey was able to surpass several prominent Democrats competitors and heading into the November elections, the Dodger and Padres legend has been very quiet.
He is heavily focused on fundraising in an effort to match the financial strength of his opponent, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), has given several television interviews and even appeared at the congressional baseball game in full uniform. of the Dodgers.
So last month he did waves when he started posting photos and videos on a week-long visit to Israel. On the trip he met with families whose loved ones some were killed or kidnapped in the October 7 attack by Hamas. Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage by militants.
Many are still detained in Gaza – likely in a labyrinth of tunnels beneath its main population centers.
“You’re in a country under siege and in a real war,” Garvey told The Times. “I wanted to go so I could talk about it with a deeper sense” of authority.
In California, however, Garvey’s campaign strategy was at times moderate and, at the very least, somewhat different from that of previous Senate candidates.
In the spring, Garvey skipped the state Republican convention and continued to be coy about his support for former President Trump — who he said he voted for in 2016. Last month, Garvey said in a television interview that he actually voted for Trump in the March presidential primaries, to the detriment of names like Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the United Nations.
Garvey will not attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, according to a spokesperson. Schiff leads Garvey (62% to 37%) among likely voters, according to a May poll from the California Public Policy Institute.
Garvey launched his campaign on Oct. 10 and said the attack in Israel only deepened his desire to visit the country, where he visited a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was attacked and the site of a music festival that had been targeted. among other places. The former baseball player had little to say about Israel’s military campaign in response to the attack; the international community strongly criticized the brutality of the Israel Defense Forces’ offensive in Gaza.
The war has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The ministry’s casualty toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Garvey said it was not his place to tell Israel how to conduct its offensive. He said that if he were a senator, he would attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress later this month.
Some Democrats said they would boycott.
From a purely political perspective, strategists said the trip was smart because it brought Garvey some badly needed attention. But, they said, Garvey’s efforts to cast Schiff, who is Jewish, as a tepid supporter of Israel would likely fall on deaf ears. After a primary opponent, Representative Barbara Lee, endorsed Schiff, Garvey criticized the two Democrats because the Oakland representative was an early proponent of a permanent ceasefire—although Lee and Schiff disagreed on this issue.
Unlike Schiff, Garvey is confused about whether he supports a two-state solution, under which Israel would recognize a Palestinian state and vice versa. Schiff has long believed in a two-state solution.
“The question always arises: Could there be a two-state solution today? No, because one of those states wants to annihilate the other,” Garvey said.
Republican strategist Kevin Spillane noted how the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee poured $5 million into an outside group that supported Schiff. The war has shaken many communities, but Spillane said voters seem most excited about issues such as the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, housing and the economy.
“Israel is a strong point of both candidates,” Spillane said.
“Maybe Garvey has some research he can criticize Schiff on, but that’s not a huge contrast and something like immigration would be more logical and, frankly, more resonant with voters in California,” Spillane said.
During his visit, Garvey received a briefing from Israel Defense Forces officials, the family of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Burbank resident Samara Weiner. Garvey’s Campaign posted a video of Weiner saying she previously voted for Schiff but would now support the Republican. Weiner, who is a lawyer, also works at the Israel Softball Assn. trying to strengthen his team ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
“He was pandering too much to the far left of the Democratic Party,” Weiner said. he told Fox News. “It was creating anti-Semitism, which was leading directly to violence against Jews, my community. I didn’t see Adam Schiff voting for the weapons Israel needs to protect itself.”
In fact, Schiff has voted on several occasions to increase defense funding for Israel, including this year when he supported legislation that allocated more than $26 billion to Israel, along with aid to Gaza. He also sponsored legislation that would give Israel an additional $2 billion for its Iron Dome defense system.
Schiff has been criticized by the left for not calling for a ceasefire and for saying Israel has the right to protect itself. He has broadly said he supports President Biden’s approach to confronting the war, which is pressuring Israel to reduce civilian casualties, calling for the release of hostages and seeking a diplomatic solution to end the war.
The former Burbank lawmaker’s campaign raised far more money than Garvey’s, and although they finished tied in the primary, the huge advantage in Democratic voter registration in California gives Schiff an almost insurmountable advantage. It is doubtful that attacking Schiff’s position on Israel would be an effective way for Garvey to bridge this gap.
“Following the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, I supported providing Israel with all the material necessary to defend itself, end Hamas’s rule in Gaza and obtain the release of all hostages, while at the same time seeking to protect civilians innocent people and provide humanitarian assistance,” Schiff said in a prepared statement. “Unlike Mr. Garvey, I support a regional agreement in which Saudi Arabia recognizes Israel and Israel recognizes a path to a Palestinian state. Such a two-state solution holds the promise of lasting peace.”
This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
