GOP Senate Nominee Steve Garvey Opts To Skip RNC In Favor Of Stateside Priorities

A spokesman for former baseball star and GOP Senate nominee Steve Garvey said on Monday that the candidate would not be going to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this year, instead opting to prioritize his campaign in California.

Garvey’s focus on running for the Senate has been near constant since he and Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) both walked away by both moving on from the primary in March. While Schiff has only recently begun getting into campaign mode by getting into fundraisers and going after Garvey on unions, Garvey has had solid months worth of speeches, campaign visits, and most recently, international visits to help build up his foreign policy experience. For the latter, Garvey visited Israel last week where he, amongst other things, visited the Gaza border, met with Israeli defense officials, met with the families of hostages, and visited wounded Israeli soldiers.

On Thursday – Day 4 of my visit to Israel – I met several Israeli officials to learn about the political climate in Israel. Later we had lunch with Mr. Oded Revivi, a dynamic leader and statesman who served as Mayor of Efrat from 2008-2024. He advocates for Judea and Samaria's… pic.twitter.com/wt3rxyWAUu

— Steve Garvey (@SteveyGarvey6) June 28, 2024

However, despite being the Republican candidate, Garvey has distanced himself from any party labels. He has resisted any greater party identification, and even says that he is running for all Californians, regardless of party. This strategy led to him not attending the state GOP convention in May, bringing him some criticism from state Republicans. His campaign manager, Andy Gharakhani, reiterated in May that “Steve Garvey has said since the launch of the campaign that he is running for all the people, not specifically for Republicans, Democrats, or Independents.”

This was only bolstered by a tweet made by Garvey last month where he reiterated “From day one I’ve said I never played for Republicans, Democrats, or Independents—I played for all the fans. Today, I’m running for the Senate to serve all the people of California.”

From day one I’ve said I never played for Republicans, Democrats, or Independents—I played for all the fans. Today, I'm running for the Senate to serve all the people of California.

I am committed to working with anyone in Congress to improve lives and pass meaningful… pic.twitter.com/UYHaZAhYVE

— Steve Garvey (@SteveyGarvey6) June 13, 2024

His focus on the campaign and not attending the usual GOP events led to his announcement on Monday that he would not be attending the RNC this month, which is due to be held July 15th to July 18th in Milwaukee. When asked his reason, the campaign said that the RNC was simply not a campaign priority.

“It’s not a priority in this campaign,” said campaign spokesman Matt Shupe on Monday.

Previous GOP Senate candidates in California have not attended the RNC in the past, meaning that Garvey’s decision is precedented. His strategy of being more of a ‘nebulous’ candidate rather that siding heavily with the GOP has also been cited as a decision going in his favor, as independents and some DINO voters would be more likely to vote for him. Also working in Garvey’s favor is the recent poor debate performance of President Joe Biden, which some Democratic strategists worry will affect down-ticket elections, including voters either switching from Schiff to Garvey, or simply not voting in the Senate race at all. With Democrats hurting, Garvey’s middle of the road approach may snatch up many of the disaffected voters. This has already worked to an extent with Jewish voters in California, with many turning to Garvey because of his strong support for Israel.

“Garvey’s campaign is doing it’s hardest to not get too bogged down in where he is on the Republican spectrum,” said political advisor Sheila Cruz to the Globe on Monday. “They know he has to appeal to a lot of centrist voters to get into the 40’s in terms of voter percentage. So broadening his appeal makes sense.

“For Republicans, he sure as hell beats Schiff, so they’re for him. But he’s been fighting for centrists. For independents. And those Democrats wanting to make a change. He is close to 40% already. With the fallout from Biden this week and Garvey’s Israel trip proving to be successful, we’ll see where polls put him. So making the RNC not a priority makes sense. He’s going after the voters who otherwise wouldn’t go for him.

“Winning the Senate race against Schiff is still, to put it lightly, very tough to do. But if he can eat in his support and take advantage of Biden’s weakness recently, as well as shove the Israeli trip in Schiff’s face come debates, Garvey is in a surprisingly good position. He doesn’t need to go to the RNC. Republicans are already behind him. He needs those people in the center and center left to go over. And Garvey playing it cool while Biden alienates voters down ticket is a smart move.”

New Senate polls reflecting recent events are expected out soon.