The Globe Covers the First 2024 California U.S. Senate Debate

Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA), Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and former Major League Baseball Star Steve Garvey (R) met on the stage for a debate for the first time in the race on Monday at the Bovard Auditorium on the USC campus in Los Angeles.

The latest polls going into Monday showed that while Schiff still has a commanding lead with 25% of likely voters, Garvey has also pulled ahead, coming in with 18% of the vote. This makes him a full 5 points ahead of Porter, with 13% of the vote, and Lee, who has fallen even further down to only 8%. Polls in the previous few months have also had both Schiff and Garvey gaining support, while Lee and Porter have slowly lost support.

Each candidate also had clear plans on Monday. Schiff, with a huge lead, came in wanting to keep his massive lead. Garvey, with his first debate and first time heading toe to toe with the other candidates, wanted to project more as a candidate to help solidify his lead over Porter and Lee. Porter, falling in support recently, was on the lookout for a breakout moment and to rebuild momentum. And Lee, whom many didn’t even think should be in the debate because of her low poll numbers, sought to reinvigor younger voters and voters of color to support her to boost her numbers back up.

The hour and a half long debate opened up with all four saying that they wanted as Senator.

Porter: “Washington is broken. Lobbyists and big corporations spend billions to make their agenda stays on top. Let’s shake up the Senate. I call for an end to earmark and a ban on Congressmembers from trading stock.”

Lee: “I have been a consistent progressive who has gotten the job done. I believe in earmarks. California is one of the states that sends money to Washington D.C. where we don’t get our money back at all.”

Schiff:  “When our country was threatened by a would-be dictator in the office, I held him accountable. There was only one who did it. I have a record of getting things done. We need a senator who can get things done and I have a record of doing that.”

Garvey:  “Early on I thought this was the heartbeat of America. California with its vibrancy was great. Suddenly one party started taking over, and the vibrancy left. It’s time to step up against them. We need to get back to to that California.”

Next, the moderators asked the candidates to rank the economy from 1 to 10.

Schiff: “The problem today is that people are working but can’t get by. President Biden has done to a lot to address this, but there is still more to do. We need to go after prices at the pump and perform anti-trust legislation with grocery store mergers. The economy right now is 1a 7 out of 10, and a lot of that is due to the marginalization of work.”

Garvey: “The economy is a 5 out of 10 at most. I’ve gone around the state, they poured their hearts out, and they said everything is fine and pay more taxes because you live in California. 88% of Californians feel that they are losing money or just getting by. We need to fix that.

Lee: “So many people in California are struggling. Move minimum wage to a living wage. We’ve created millions of jobs, but they still need a heck of a lot more involved to get them to our communities. $117,000 is barely getting by for a family of four in the Bay Area. 6 out of 10.

Porter: “I say it’s a 5 out of 10, but it’s an average. Rich Californians have a 10, those with generational wealth. Others are well below 5. We need to address wealth inequality. I’m the only one on this stage to not take corporate PAC money.

On the Israel-Hamas War

Lee: “I called for a permanent cease-fire. Israel deserves to live in peace away from all terrorist attacks. And I condemn the October terrorist attacks. But killing 25,000 Palestinians is counter productive and catastrophic. The only way forward for peace and security is a cease-fire and a two-state solution.

Schiff: “I go back to October 7th and the brutal murder of Israelis. No country could refuse to defend itself, and I believe the US should support Israel. It’s not incompatible to grieve both innocents on both sides, but also strive for a two-state solution.”

The horrific attack by Hamas on October 7th broke the ceasefire and set back the opportunity for a two-state solution by at least a generation. Israel has the right to defend itself. #senateshowdown pic.twitter.com/Xr0Gee2Yvc

— Steve Garvey (@SteveyGarvey6) January 23, 2024

Porter: “I join millions of Americans around the country in mourning all the Israeli and Palestinian lives. We need conditions for a bilateral durable peace. I have called for a permanent cease-fire and to bring the people of Gaza for a better future, release of the hostages. You can’t say cease fire and make it so.”

Garvey: “I stay with Israel, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. They are one of our greatest allies. With common sense and compassion, we need to give Israel the chance to fight back. We can’t tell them to cease-fire. It is naïve to think a two-state solution can happen in our generation.”

Lee, defensive, rebutted to each response, defending her stance on an immediate cease-fire.

Housing affordability

Schiff: “When I was a kid, my father was a travelling salesman making $18,000 a year. He bought his first house for $18,000. That doesn’t happen anymore. We need to increase the low income tax credit. We need section 8 vouchers for all who need them. We need to not have our students have crushing debt.”

Garvey: “It gets back to the economy. We start to encourage more housing by going after inflation. Let’s get to the point where we cut energy cuts by opening our oil and gas pipes. Wall street and main street are completely different. Lets get back to a vibrant economy.”

Porter: “We are being cheated in foreclosure by big banks. Housing affordability is my top issue. The problem is career politicians catering to their big bank donors. We need more affordable housing for all. We cannot have a grown economy if we can’t keep people here, and we can’t do that if they can’t afford housing.”

Lee: “I believe housing is a human right, and I have called for legislation to be a human right. We need to make college tuition free in California to help students afford more. Students can’t even dream of owning a home here.”

Health care

Porter: “Medicare for all declares the highest quality care at the lowest price point with the most choices. $17 of every $100 is spent by insurance companies on administrative costs. Medicare for al is only $2 out of every $100.”

Garvey: We are never stronger than when we have competition. Medicare for all would be a strain on the economy. We need a competitive balance. We need to look at Obamacare and refine it. Good competitors win.”

Schiff: “I fought to extend the affordable care plan. I prefer Medicare for all, but in a way so you can keep your doctor. We need good access for our kids and families. Medicare for all would work.”

Lee: “I believe healthcare should be a human right. It should not be competitive. I was one of the original co-sponsors of Medicare for all. I helped negotiate the affordable care act. We need Medicare for all to make medical decisions by the individual. We don’t need a bottom line for healthcare.”

Porter, a large defender of healthcare for all, rebutted both Lee and Garvey. On Lee, she responded that although Lee strove for changes for years to make Medicare for all possible, she had never gotten it off the ground. And for Garvey, she went after his stance on competition. Schiff, meanwhile, had a pointed rebuttal at Porter, saying she was only talking about advancing Medicare legislation while he himself had actually pushed legislation forward in Congress for expanded health care.

In another question, all candidates were asked to finish the following: “If the American people choose president trump to return as president then_____

Garvey: “The Greatest currency we have is a right to vote. Whoever gets in we should support them, as they are leader of free world.”

Schiff: “We are something if that happens and it rhymes with ‘crude.’ I went toe to toe with him before, and I’ll go toe to toe with him again. He is the greatest threat to our democracy.”

Lee: “I believe Garvey voted for him twice, so if anyone on this stage believes he should be president, it’s him. I will fight to protect our freedoms and democracy.”

Porter: “Then we will lose credibility on the world stage and send us back decades and will weaken our diverse recruitment to keep our country safe.”

All three Democratic candidates then went after Garvey in rebuttals for not having a clear stance on if  he supports Trump. Garvey clarified that he voted for Trump twice because he was the best president and went after Schiff’s words against him by saying it was “Identity politics at its finest.” He also stated that the country was safer under Trump, a statement that all the other candidates immediately attacked him on. Schiff in particular pointed to Trump’s meetings with Russian and North Korean leaders as safety risks.

Porter quipped “Once a Dodger, always a dodger. He refused to answer the question,” following Garvey not saying where he stood on supporting Trump for president.

Homelessness

Lee: “It’s a shame and disgrace that we have so many people homeless in our state. We need a national eviction policy and more affordable housing built. Federal government needs to invest more here.”

Porter: “Direct result of Washington’s failure to write housing policies based on people, not banking. Fully funding section 8 vouchers and eviction protections. The solution to homelessness is housing.”

Garvey: “First thing I’ll do is an audit. Where did the 30 billion go? They talk about Washington being the problem. All three of them have been those people from Washington for years.”

Schiff: “This will be my one and only baseball analogy tonight. That was a swing and a miss. This is a supply problem. We need  more approval of housing. Housing is a human right. It pains me to see so many living on the street.”

Abortion

Garvey: “As an elected official I will support the voice of the people of California. On other issues I will look at them. We need to build a consensus and listen. I would not vote for a federal ban on abortion.”

Porter. “Abortion is a freedom issue, nothing should restrict them. The GOP has said if they win, they will pass a nationwide abortion ban. I do not feel like abortion rights have been accomplished.”

Schiff: “What the Supreme Court did was dangerous. We need a national set of abortion laws. We need to expand the Supreme Court to not make them as reactionary. When we start taking away rights, our democracy is in trouble.”

Lee: “It’s so important to know that the Supreme Court took away a right. Before Roe, I had an illegal abortion in Mexico. It was terrifying. That’s why we need abortion laws on the book to keep it legal.”

Earmarks

Porter: “Earmarks is just a fancy word for Washington politicians for getting what they need for donors rather than what the people need, especially the communities of color. President Obama was a huge critic. We are seeing bridges to nowhere being built with our hard earned dollars. Earmarks are not leaving money on the table. It will take more than earmarks to fix things.”

Schiff: “Dianne Feinstein bright millions back to California through earmarks for improvements. If one senator says no earmarks, the other 99 Senators love hearing that. More for them. This is needed, and not a political talking point. They want someone to deliver.”

Garvey: “My three opponents have people who they owe, donors. I owe no one. My earmarks would be based on needs to protect the sovereignty of California. I don’t call them earmarks. I call them necessities.”

Lee “Earmarks must be transparent. You need to fight for every dollar, and earmarks are one way. I support earmarks in the Senate to bring in as much money as possible back to California.”

Crisis at the border

Lee: “I was born and raised in El Paso Texas and grew up in the diverse community there. No one is illegal.”

Schiff: “My great-grandparents immigrated here. People are coming here to flee violence and get a better life. It is a crisis. It is unsustainable. But we need to approach this with compassion and have people apply for asylum in their own home countries. The system is broken, it needs to be fixed. We didn’t get it done during the Obama administration.”

Garvey ” If you break the law, it is illegal. Where have you all been for the last three years? The surge of immigrants has brought a stress on America, and they let this happen. You can’t look the people of California in the eye and tell them there isn’t a problem.”

Porter: “We need immigrants. We need farmworkers and doctors and people coming in, but we also need a compassionate immigration system.”

Climate Change 

Electric cars, specifically on the 2035 electric car law banning new gas powered cars to be sold after that date.

Porter: “The time to act on climate was yesterday. We need to recognize the need and assistance for people to move towards green energy. Schiff may have prosecuted companies before coming to Congress, but after, he has been cashing their checks.”

Garvey: “Climate change is proven. We need to work together to solve it. But we can’t cut off gas and oil. We can’t say in ten years you need to buy an electric car.”

Schiff: “I support that 2035 law. It won’t outlaw gas cars, it will just mean that you can’t buy a new one past that year. We do need to transition to renewable energy sources and stop incentivizing fossil fuel industry. Porter keeps saying we need to do it, but she actually hasn’t done anything on it.”

Lee: “I support the transition to electric vehicles, but a lot of people can’t afford it. We need climate policies that won’t leave low income people behind.”

Agriculture

Garvey: “We need to support farmers, with better water technology and deregulation. We need to go back into investing in farming and ranching.”

Porter: “We need to focus on growing healthier foods with less water and less pollution.”

Schiff: “We need to provide assistance for those struggling to put food on the table, as well as support agriculture.”

Lee: “Priority for me are the nutritional assistance. We cannot have food insecurity. Everyone should have access to good healthy food.”

Overall, the debate was interesting. As for this journalist’s take, who was there on campus watching this happen, there was a lot to really look more into.

Schiff was on point all night, but he kept going back to his battles with Trump and being proud he was censured. He’s already anticipating both being the next Senator and Trump being elected back into office, and from how he said things, it was like he really wanted it to happen again. He also kept plugging his support from labor unions and other little jabs in there. Out of the four, he was the least called out on, with his stances, sans Israel support, being middle of the road Democrat. His responses were polished, and I was really waiting to see a curveball come his way all night to throw him off guard to see how he responded, but it never came.

Porter had the best zinger of the night with the dodger quip, but you can tell she had that one locked and loaded and ready to go for that question. The entire press room went “Oooooooh!” when she went that, but that was her peak too. She was also the fastest with the answers but often straddled into worrisome territory. Her trying to defend her stance on earmarks wasn’t great. All the others went after her on it, with Garvey even throwing some shade there. She also had trouble defending her stances on many issues. If her goal was to outdo Garvey tonight, maybe she did, but it wasn’t enough to get back some of those polling points most likely. Also, she mentioned her kids in every other response.

Garvey struggled during the debate, but it can be seen as first debate jitters. This was his first one, and some of his responses were a bit off. He noticeably took the longest pauses in coming up with an answer. The press room even laughed at a few of his responses when he went on a tangent to another topic during a response. However, he did begin to hold his own more and more as the debate went on. Everyone was attacking him, and he soon found that his best defense was a straight answer. When he couldn’t give a clear answer on Trump, they all went after him. When it got to the abortion question, they started doing the same.

But as soon as he said he wouldn’t support a federal ban, the three had no where to go. Porter and Lee, in particular, looked annoyed that he had pretty much cut off their talking point. When he was clear on climate change and earmarks, he started going against them. This was a learning debate for Garvey. If he can continue giving clear answers, avoid meandering trains of thought, and maybe be a bit more quick out of the gate, he can definitely do a lot better. You can bet his team is coaching him for the next one.

As for Lee? She gave intelligent responses, but she did not react well to criticism. She gave, by far, the most interruptions of the night, and seemed to go after everyone. The Israel issue, for example, she definitely had a chip on her shoulder. And like Porter with her kids and Garvey with baseball, Lee was a broken record about her life story, especially her early life in El Paso. Also worrisome was how she flat out refused to answer some questions. Not avoid them like Porter and Schiff and Garvey did. But flat out refuse. The question over how Oakland lost all their pro sports teams and their In N-Out drew a big response from the audience, yet she didn’t even go into that. He silence says a lot more than any response.

Overall, it seems Schiff won the night by virtue of not saying anything too controversial. However, the other candidates now have him clocked, and the next debate can have the others go after his weak spots that showed. Garvey didn’t give the greatest performance, but he found his footing after he calmed down and found a way to shut the other down when they tried to rebut. Porter was, well, Porter, and Lee kept trying to get attention. Again, next debate is going to be really interesting.