Former National League MVP Steve Garvey is considering running for the Senate seat that California Democrat Dianne Feinstein will vacate at the end of the 118th Congress, he confirmed Thursday.
“Over the last couple of months, prominent Republicans and Democrats, which is interesting, have contacted me concerning an interest in running for a position, and obviously it would be the Senate,” Garvey told his hometown Palm Springs Desert Sun. “I had contemplated when I retired from baseball, but things always got in the way.”
Garvey, who played first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969-87, has never before sought elected office. He raised money for George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign, according to the Desert Sun, but also donated to Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley’s presidential run.
Pete Rose. Steve Garvey. 6855 Hits pic.twitter.com/gi9OSAGHLQ
— OldTimeHardball (@OleTimeHardball) June 1, 2023
“So I said I will explore (running),” Garvey added. “And I spent probably six weeks at least exploring. We haven’t got to the decision-making part of it yet. But I will say that probably in the next couple of weeks we will have an answer.”
Garvey would likely enter the race with the highest name identification of any candidate. He finished his 19-year Major League Baseball career with 2,599 hits, 272 home runs, and the 1974 National League MVP award. Garvey was the starting first baseman for the 1981 Dodgers team that won the World Series.
Under California’s jungle primary, the top two candidates, regardless of party, advance to the general election. A recent poll found Republican attorney Eric Early leading a crowded field with 18% support, followed by Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff with 17%. No Republican has won a race statewide since 2006, and the GOP was shut out of the Senate general elections in 2016 and 2018. (RELATED: Majority Of California Democrats Believe Sen. Dianne Feinstein Can No Longer Serve: POLL)
Feinstein announced in February that she would retire at the end of the 118th Congress. She missed more than two months of work after being hospitalized with shingles, and multiple outlets have reported that her office is effectively run by her aides.