Steve Garvey Ramps Up Campaign in Final Month Before Election

October is proving to be a busy month for former baseball star and current Senate candidate Steve Garvey, as he branches out across the state with new visits, campaign stops, and fundraising events.

For Garvey, he has stayed mostly in Southern California for the duration of his campaign, focusing efforts on the Central Valley, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County. All of these areas are either Republican strongholds, battleground regions of the state, or places where Garvey has deep connections and draws support from, despite leaning more on the Democratic side. That being said, he has made several high profile jaunts outside the area. During the primary, he made stops at the Salton Sea and U.S.-Mexico Border, as well as travelling up to San Francisco for the second Senate debate where he shocked many political observers by beating Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA), and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA).

Post-Primary, Garvey has remained mostly in Southern California. For months he ran a pretty quiet campaign. He did venture out at times, giving interviews in places like Bakersfield, or hosting fundraisers elsewhere. His biggest even was travelling outside of the U.S. to Israel, showing support for the country while also brushing up on foreign experience in the leadup to the heavier political season ahead… not to mention higher profile events, like those with fellow former Dodgers and Padres players, across SoCal. And now, with October coming in and the end of the legislative session and Governor signing period in Sacramento, Garvey has finally begun to go all out.

Garvey in North State

While much of October for Garvey isn’t known, he does have significant funds in the tank, thanks in part to a surprising Q2 2024 fundraising period where he brought in more than Schiff. Late last month he made ventures going up North and spread across the state, including giving interviews in Fresno, Sacramento and San Diego, and going to more festivals and events, including some in Inglewood. This week he made his first anticipated visit to the North State, having a fundraiser at the Matson Vineyards on Tuesday in Redding and a fundraiser breakfast in Anderson on Wednesday.

For the rest of the month, with campaign season now in full-swing, more can be expected of Garvey as well as Schiff, who has made sporadic visits to California in the past several months because of Congressional duties. This includes two possible debates between the two. And, with a GOP victory in the Senate in California unlikely, a strong Garvey finish over 40% can still rattle Democrats in California. Polls currently show Garvey in the mid 30’s percentage-wise in support, but with enough undecided voters out there to potentially hit the 40% mark and above. And for many observers, that’s what makes this final month of in-person visits across the state so crucial – drawing up support for a strong finish. Especially in areas that Schiff hasn’t bothered to visit.

“Statistically, Garvey isn’t going to win,” said Stephanie Lewis, a pollster in Southern California, to the Globe on Wednesday. “But, to use some baseball analogies, he is like the team that is out of playoff contention but is still playing teams that could make it. He needs to win these final games, have a strong showing, and then help spoil the night for those going on. Garvey hitting above 40%, like you said, would send a strong message to Schiff and Democrats.

“And Garvey’s strategy right now is good. He didn’t have all the money in the world, so travelling was used sparingly until around September. And now, with business in Sacramento wrapped up, the news cycle is more open for political news. So him doing more and more interviews and events and fundraisers in the last few months made sense. Go all in on October and the last few days in November. Go to these places candidates don’t always visit, show his face, and do as much of that before election day and before mail-in ballots start to go out.

“A good sign that it is working is if Schiff suddenly has some last minute events come up earlier this month that were not planned. Garvey may not have the votes to win because of how blue the state is, but he could get enough votes to embarrass him and make him mad for having to do more campaign work than he had planned for and use some of the money he had in his war chest. Garvey can really end strong still, and him going out geographically in the final month is a good strategy.”