After years of speculation about her health, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) passed away at the end of September. Laphonza Butler was named to fill her position by California Governor Gavin Newsom. Even though Feinstein has already said she will not seek re-election in November, Butler will have to fight to keep her Senate seat. There will be no shortage of high-profile Democrats who want to take her place. The Republican Party now has a competitor in the form of a former baseball player.
Republican Steve Garvey launched his candidacy for Feinstein’s old seat on October 10. Garvey, now 74 years old, was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1974 and played for the Los Angeles Dodgers for 14 years. In 1981, he was a member of the Dodgers team that would go on to win the World Series. He then spent the next five seasons with the San Diego Padres.
After leaving the workforce, he founded the sports marketing and communications firm Garvey Media Group. He has served for more than 30 years on the board of directors of the Baseball Assistance Team, a charity that aids retired major league baseball players. He has finally made up his mind to run for office.
Garvey will have a lot of rivals in his bid for the Senate. By the time of the election, Butler will have held the seat for almost a year and will be eager to keep it. Butler is a former union organizer and the president of EMILY’s List, a political action committee that supports pro-abortion Democratic candidates. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Katie Porter (D-CA), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) are all likely to run against her as a Democratic challenger for the seat.
Garvey is optimistic, though. He said when he played baseball he “never played for Democrats or Republicans or Independents… I played for all the fans, and I’m running for all the people.”
