The Lingering Question Of Steve Garvey and a Potential Trump Endorsement

Former President Donald Trump urged California Senate candidate and former baseball star Steve Garvey (R) to ask for his endorsement over the weekend, saying that Garvey would not win without it.

For most of the race, Garvey has tried to avoid saying where his support of Trump stood. This came to a head in the primary debates in January and February, when candidates like Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA), challenged him on where he stood with Trump. Garvey remained wishy-washy over where he stood with Trump until later June where, after Trump won the first debate over president and then-candidate Joe Biden, he committed to voting for Trump. However, while Garvey has secured many party endorsements, including from the California Republican Party, he has yet to reach out to Trump. This has been especially clear following the ascension of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, with Garvey avoiding the issue of wanting a Trump endorsement.

Things come to a head over the weekend where President Trump, while speaking in the Los Angeles area, said that while Garvey wants the MAGA endorsement, he would need to call Trump in order to get it. He revealed that Garvey has yet to do so and that, without it, Garvey stood no chance against Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) this November.

“I don’t know much about Steve Garvey. I think he’s made a big mistake because he hasn’t reached out to MAGA,” said Trump over the weekend. “Well, I haven’t spoken to him. I’m hearing he wants the MAGA endorsement, but he’s got to call me. If he had the MAGA endorsement, he could win. If you had an honest election he’d win, but you don’t have an honest election.”

Garvey responded to multiple outlets on Saturday, saying in a statement that “Since day one, I’ve ran a different type of campaign, I have not taken or asked for a single political endorsement. The only endorsements I want are from the law enforcement community and first responders. This week, we launched a historic campaign dedicating all of our resources to talk with California’s Latino community from now until the election.

“My focus is, and always has been, on the issues that truly matter to Californians — affordability, public safety, securing the border, fixing the homelessness crisis and restoring California’s leadership. I’m running a ‘Steve Garvey’ campaign for all the people of California, not for partisan or special interests. I’m committed to tackling the challenges that families and communities face every day and making sure that California has the voice it deserves in Washington.”

Garvey’s neutral response on Trump’s potential endorsement confused many on Sunday and Monday. While Garvey may hope to attract more centrist and undecided voters without Trump’s approval, he also now risks irking some of the base for voting for him come election day. Currently in polls, Garvey is down by roughly 20 points. But, with a split in undecided voters, Garvey could reach 40% of the vote – the highest potentially for a Republican in a Senate race in California since Carly Fiorina in 2010.

Over the weekend, Garvey was shown on X to be outreaching to four major groups: undecided voters, disenfranchised Democrats, Latinos, and independent voters. His strategy is to get both more of the undecided voter percentage and to take away more Centrist Democrats, rather than focus more on the GOP base. Hence why he isn’t pushing more for Trump outside of him saying he will vote for him.

“I have always said I am running for the soul of California and this country,” Garvey said. “We’re targeting the independent vote, the disenfranchised democrat, the undecided, the Latino community is so important to us.”https://t.co/h0Lfo4hA6q

— Steve Garvey (@SteveyGarvey6) September 15, 2024

Stephanie Lewis, a pollster in Southern California, told the Globe on Monday, “Garvey has been staying steady at around 33% of guaranteed votes, and maybe another tacked on 7% from undecided voters before the election. This has been better than other Republican Senate candidates in the last several elections, but to get there he needs both undecideds and Republicans to come out.

“He’s going for those harder to get voters who haven’t decided yet. He’s banking on Republicans to vote for him against Schiff anyway, just by them going down ballot for all relevant candidates. A lot of voters just vote by party, and with GOP voters expected to come out in many areas because of close races or excitement against Trump, Garvey is looking for that support.

“But Trump hasn’t given his seal of approval of him yet. He certainly likes him better than Schiff. He has called Schiff evil. Garvey he hasn’t really called him anything bad and has just said that Garvey needs to ask for his endorsement. But Garvey doesn’t want to scare off potential undecided voters, some of whom don’t like Trump.

“And that’s the high-wire act Garvey is walking right now. Get his endorsement, he scares off a lot of potential voters. But go more to the other side, and some in the base aren’t going to be happy. Like I said, Garvey is banking on Republicans to vote for him regardless as the lesser of two evils. Vote for the candidate who isn’t Schiff, because remember, he has made many in his own party angry. We just need to see if this works out for him.”

As of Monday, Garvey has yet to say anything more of a potential Trump endorsement.