US Senate candidates Adam Schiff, Katie Porter rally for SF votes ahead of primary

ByRyan Curry KGO logo

Monday, March 4, 2024

Reps Adam Schiff, Katie Porter rally for SF votes ahead of primary

Both democratic senate candidates Adam Schiff and Katie Porter are in a tight race with Republican leader Steve Garvey.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Representatives Adam Schiff and Katie Porter both held different "get out to vote" events in San Francisco Sunday night. Both democratic senate candidates are in a tight race with Republican leader Steve Garvey.

"It is so important that you are engaged," Rep. Schiff said. "It is so important that you are going to go out and vote. We do not have the luxury of disengagement."

Schiff's event was at The Peal in Dogpatch, and Porter's was at Manny's in The Mission.

"What we saw today was a huge turnout here in San Francisco," Porter said. "People of all different ages. A lot of the young people I talked with said they had not cast their ballot yet but are going to do so."

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The latest polls from UC Berkeley show Garvey and Schiff in a statistical tie. Porter trails and Congresswoman Barbara Lee is falling behind. Rep. Porter says supporters of Garvey are spending big money to get her to lose.

"We have a handful of billionaires who are literally spending millions to try and prevent me from getting to the Senate," she said. "Why would they do that? It's because they don't want someone who is going to address the income inequality we see in this country. They don't want someone who is going to stand up for workers and consumers."

A ticket of two democrats would ensure the California Senate seat remains blue. A republican vs democrat race could lead to millions more in campaign spending for the rest of the year. Rep. Schiff received endorsements from some of the state's top Democrats, including Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi. As a democratic favorite, Schiff says he is prepared for whoever he has to go against if he wins on Tuesday.

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"We feel pretty good about where we are and the team we built and the support we are getting," he said. "If we are successful on Tuesday, as I hope we will be, we will be ready for November."

We reached out to Steve Garvey's campaign, and they declined to comment. Rep. Porter says, despite the polls, she thinks it is anyone's race this week.

"I think every pollster would tell you low turnout elections are surprising," she said. "Look, I have won before when the polls had me down at this point, and so I have done this before and pulled it out. I think it will take time for every last vote to be counted."