OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A new poll reported co-sponsored by the LA Times has revealed a shocking result for California Democrats, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) who chose to run for Senate to replace the retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein instead of defending his House seat could very well be out of a job come November.
Schiff finds himself running a tight race with Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) within three points with Schiff holding 20% of likely voters while Porter sits with 17%. The nearest competitor after Porter is Rep. Barbara Lee who is ten points behind according to the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll according to LA Times.
The poll found that the potential entry of former Dodgers and Padres First Baseman Steve Garvey as a Republican hasn’t appreciably moved the needle for either candidate. He and potential GOP candidate James Bradley hold 7% each with Attorney Eric Early, a regular candidate for the Republicans is holding a 5% return in the poll.
Because California has an unusual ‘top-two’ primary system the top two voted candidates will face off in the general election regardless of party, this is also known as a ‘jungle primary.’ Mark DiCamillo, director of the Times-Berkeley poll observed “The more Republicans there are [in the race], the lower their chances are of getting somebody in the top two, just because they divide each other’s support up.”
“You can change that with a lot of campaigning, but they don’t appear to be that competitive right now for the top two positions,” he told the Times.
However, one key factor could be decisive among the California Democrats: the politics of race. As reported by the Times, after Governor Gavin Newsom appointed a man to fill the vacated seat of then-Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, Newsom committed to choosing a black woman should another vacancy occur. If Sen. Feinstein is unable to finish her term then this could become key, as it would place Lee in the best position as an incumbent.
2024 California Senate Primary Poll
(D) Adam Schiff 20%
(D) Katie Porter 17%
(D) Barbara Lee 7%
(R) Steve Garvey 7%
(R) James Bradley 7%
(R) Eric Early 5%
(D) Lexi Reese 1%
—
Undecided 36%@UCBerkeley | 3,113 LV | Aug. 24-29https://t.co/KbP3SkU7VK pic.twitter.com/OzLKdnysoN— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) September 7, 2023
In a direct race, Lee would seem to be of little concern to Schiff and Porter, as the Times reports, “Despite several months of campaigning, Lee remains less well-known than Schiff and Porter, with half of likely voters having no opinion of her.” She even trails among likely black voters at just 16% whereas Schiff commands 30% support and Porter holds 21%. But the power of incumbency, particularly in a racially charged election among Democrats is massive. This is particularly telling when considering that as the Daily Caller reported, prominent Democrats have said it would be racist for Newsom or any other man to challenge Kamala Harris in a hypothetical primary should President Joe Biden step aside. No doubt, a similar statement would be made about any white candidate seeking to unseat a hypothetical Senator Lee.
In short, Schiff has a tight race ahead and could lose out to Porter, but for him to have any measurable chance at all, Feinstein, aged 90, must finish out her full term.
In recent days Schiff has reappeared on the public stage by calling for the removal of former President Donald Trump from the 2024 Presidential ballot through the 14th Amendment under Clause 3 without due process of law. He claimed to MSNBC’s Jen Psaki Monday “By the clear terms of the 14th Amendment, [Trump] should be disqualified from holding office.” In this Schiff is repeating the novel legal theory generated by radical leftist legal scholars Lawrence Tribe, J. Michael Luttig, and anti-Trump Republicans William Baude, and Michael Stokes Paulsen.
NEW: Adam Schiff appears to call for the removal of Trump from the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment.
Can you hear the panic?
“By the clear terms of the 14th Amendment, [Trump] should be disqualified from holding office.”
The statement comes as multiple swing states are… pic.twitter.com/m62iVzWowH
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 4, 2023
Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz lampooned Schiff for this during an interview with Fox News‘ Sean Hannity Monday saying, “Prof. Laurence Tribe and Adam Schiff to say it’s our opinion that this is an insurrection. We don’t think what happened after the George Floyd killing was an insurrection. We don’t think what happened with open borders or sanctuary cities is an insurrection. But we do think this [ the January 6th Capitol Riot] was an insurrection.”
