Adam Schiff Secures LA Times Senate Endorsement

In a release on Sunday, The Los Angeles Times endorsed Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) for the U.S. Senate, giving him one of the most prominent endorsements for Democratic candidates in the race.

For about a year, Schiff, Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA), and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) have all been in the race for Senate. During that time, they have also collected as many endorsements as they could get, as the four-way Senate race has three prominent Democrats all vying for the same limited number of endorsements. Senators, Congressional members, mayors, and state lawmakers have all split their endorsements amongst the three, with Schiff and Lee receiving the most. However, most prominent endorsements were gone by November, with the largest remaining one, the California Democratic Party endorsement, failing to be chosen at the CADEM convention in November.

With candidates needing a boost in the last few weeks of the race to the Primary on March 5th, and especially for the first debate scheduled for next week in Los Angeles, an endorsement from the L.A. Times was sought after by Schiff, Porter, and Lee. On Sunday, the Times finally gave the endorsement to Schiff, giving him further momentum going into the second half of January.

“The three representatives are smart, experienced, savvy members of the House who could represent California well in the Senate,” said the Times in their endorsement. “Schiff, however, stands out for his extraordinary leadership over the last several years in helping to protect the nation’s institutions, the rule of law and American democracy itself from former President Trump.”

“It’s no surprise that Schiff is so often tapped to take the lead in these high-profile efforts. Colleagues describe him as an incredibly intelligent and uniquely skilled communicator who can get to the core of an issue — a talent essential to mustering the support of fellow legislators and the public at large.”

While the editorial board also praised the other two Democrats, the endorsement will likely only strengthen Schiff’s support numbers, making it an already tight race for the other two Democrats. With the latest polls showing Schiff with a gigantic lead and Porter running either just ahead or just below former baseball star Steve Garvey (R), the L.A. Times may have inadvertently given Garvey a slight edge going into the next debate.

“Very few Republicans reading the Times are going to change their mind based on that endorsement,” added Stephanie Lewis, a pollster in Southern California, to the Globe on Monday. “But you know who are? On the fence Porter and Lee supporters in the LA area. For Garvey, an alternative win is there not so much as gaining votes, but making sure that Porter and Lee are losing them. That’s what this endorsement will do. They might as well have said they are supporting Garvey.

“Now, endorsements are just one small part of the equation. But there are some who are switching to Schiff or deciding on Schiff now because of this. Doesn’t matter that they also praised Porter and Lee. Also, notice that Garvey is actually walking in Skid Row in LA now and doing other things like that and the others have been sticking largely to be speeches and fundraisers? He’s doing these subtle things right now, not chasing endorsements. Yet he pretty much just got one in a backwards way.”

The first debate between the four candidates will be on January 23, 2024 in Los Angeles.