By Lynn La, CalMatters
SACRAMENTO, California — If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em?
After blasting Rep. Adam Schiff for elevating Republican Steve Garvey in the U.S. Senate race, Rep. Katie Porter is pulling a similar maneuver with Eric Early, who’s also running for Senate as a Republican.
Both the anti-Garvey ad by Schiff and now the anti-Early ad by Porter (first reported by Politico) seek to tie the Republicans to former President Donald Trump — the strategy being that the GOP faithful will rally to their side if they’re under attack by Democrats.
Porter’s ad, on Facebook: “Who’s the real Republican threat in the California Senate race? MAGA Republican Eric Early proudly stands with Donald Trump, while Steve Garvey refuses to tell us who he supports. Garvey claimed he might even vote for Joe Biden. Get the facts.”
The two Democrats are jockeying to finish in the top two in the March 5 primary and advance to November. A new Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill poll out today puts Schiff at 28%, followed by Garvey with 22%, Porter at 16% and Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee at 9%, with 17% of likely voters still undecided.
While Schiff is apparently trying to make sure Garvey is his ostensibly weaker opponent, Porter is apparently hoping that Early can take away some GOP support from Garvey so she can slide into at least second place.
Such are the shenanigans in California’s “jungle” primary. It was sold as a way to make sure no party preference voters can participate and to boost more moderate candidates. But since rolling out in 2012, it has come under fire for unintended consequences and Machiavellian maneuvering.
Jon Fleischman, a political consultant, on social media: “Welcome to California, where the Democrat candidates spend more money boosting the Republicans than the Republican candidates can raise to spend on themselves.”
In other U.S. Senate campaign news:
On stage: At 6 p.m. today in Los Angeles, the three Democrats plus Garvey are set to face off in the final scheduled debate of the primary, an hour-long event hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo. Porter, Schiff and Lee took part in a forum hosted by Univision on Saturday and aired Monday evening on TV stations across the state (Garvey declined an invitation.) They discussed the cost of living, housing and immigration. Latino voters could be key, as CalMatters has reported, if the participation rate increases.
Endorsements: Porter won the backing of the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board over the weekend. Previously, Schiff was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times and La Opinión, while Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee was favored by The Sacramento Bee.
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CalMatters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism enterprise covering the State of California