Steve Garvey seeking to hit home run for GOP in California Senate primary

NEWS AND OPINION:

The California primary election on March 5 could draw more press coverage than usual, thanks to former Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey — a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in the Golden State.

He’s getting some traction these days.

An Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics survey of the Senate election finds that 25% of the respondents support Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat — while 18% support Mr. Garvey. Another 13% support Rep. Katie Porter and 8% favor Rep. Barbara Lee — both Democrats — with 24% undecided.

The survey of preferences for the all-party primary, the top two candidates advance to the general election in November, was conducted Jan. 11-14.

Mr. Garvey, meanwhile, has a message for the public — with a little help from a historic ballplayer.

“Democrat policies have brought America to its knees. And now, as Yogi Berra used to say, ‘It’s déjà vu all over again.’ There’s fear of walking down the street because of rampant crime, homelessness, and drug addiction. The cost of living is exploding and for the first time causing more people to leave California,” the candidate said in a written campaign statement shared Sunday with Inside the Beltway.

Democrats aren’t paying much attention to such circumstances, he notes.

“Joe Biden, Adam Schiff and the rest of the Democrats don’t care one bit that Americans are having a hard time. I’d go even further to say they welcome the misery so they can keep folks down and dependent,” Mr. Garvey said.

“And I wouldn’t blame you if you said, ‘Steve, I’m afraid America’s best days are behind us.’ But listen, here’s something I also want you to remember. We Republicans pulled our country out of that 1970’s Democratic malaise by electing Ronald Reagan. We put classic conservative values at the heart of everything we did. And America became a shining city upon a hill once more. We can do that again. It starts by stunning the Democrats with a Senate win in California,” Mr. Garvey said.

UNHAPPY WITH HANDOUTS

Voters are “overwhelmingly” united in their opposition to government subsidies for business, says a Rasmussen Reports survey.

It found that 64% of likely U.S. voters favor ending “corporate welfare,” and believe the government should not give handouts to businesses. Another 20% disagree, 16% are not sure. There is little partisan difference on this issue: 63% of Republicans support ending corporate welfare, as do 64% of both Democrats and voters not affiliated with either major party.

The survey of 1,178 likely U.S. voters was conducted online and by telephone on Jan. 17 by Rasmussen Reports and the Woodford Foundation and released Friday.

TYRUS HAS A SAY

Tyrus — former professional wrestler, author and current Fox News contributor — has a new show on the way. It’s called “Maintaining with Tyrus” and it is set to launch Thursday on Outkick.com, which is owned by Fox Corporation.

“I’ve been following OutKick for a while now and what they have built is something special. They don’t hold back and are always speaking their mind, so joining the platform was an easy decision. I can’t wait to get this show started. I promise it will be engaging, compelling, and sometimes funny,” Tyrus said in a written statement.

He is already a co-host on “Gutfeld!” — the late-night offering on Fox News Channel. Tyrus made his pro-wrestling debut in 2006 and was later crowned the National Wrestling Alliance’s world heavyweight champion, a belt previously held by such wrestling icons as Harley Race and Ric Flair.

“The art of the conversation is back. Tyrus sits down with some of the biggest names in sports, entertainment, pop culture and in the news for real talk that’s rarely captured on camera,” Outkick.com said in an advance statement for the new program.

THE SEVENTH-LARGEST STATE

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he has been studying illegal immigration patterns in the Lone Star State for 15 years.

“We were averaging about 435,000 apprehensions most years, and in December, we had 300,000 alone. So, under President Joe Biden, we know the apprehensions. The people who come across and turn themselves in and want asylum, even though 90% don’t qualify for it. We will be somewhere around 8 million with the got-aways at the end of Joe Biden’s turn, maybe as many as 10 million,” Mr. Patrick told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” anchor Maria Bartiromo.

“Maria, we don’t catch everyone,” he continued.

“We have 1,250 miles of border with Mexico. Our border, Texas and Mexico, is further than the distance between Atlanta and Portland, Maine. So there are people who get in that we don’t see. So if you get one out of every two, that’s going to be 14, 15, 16 million people that have gotten into this country since Joe Biden became president. That would make them — just alone, if you put them in one area — the seventh-largest state,” Mr. Patrick noted.

A HELPFUL HINT

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has a helpful hint for lawmakers.

“My message to Republicans is: Do not leave D.C. until you finish the job. We have waited for so long for Congress to do something about the border. First, Joe Biden should be securing the border. This is a national security threat. The idea that he is actually suing Gov. [Greg] Abbott for trying to protect the people of Texas is wrong. America is acting like it’s Sept. 10, and we better remember what Sept. 12 felt like, because it only takes one person to cause a 9/11 moment,” Ms. Haley told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

“The second thing is Republicans and Democrats need to get into a room. They don’t need to leave until they figure this out, because the American people are not safe at this point,” she advised.

POLL DU JOUR

• 36% of parents of adult children say they “never” disagree with their adult children on their political views.

• 29% say they “rarely” disagree with their children about their political views.

• 25% say they “sometimes” disagree with their children on political views.

• 7% say they disagree with them on politics “very often.”

• 2% say they disagree with them on politics “extremely often.

SOURCE; A Pew Research Center American Trends Panel poll of 3,017 U.S. parents who have at least one child between the ages of 18 and 34. The survey was conducted Oct. 24-Nov. 5 and released Thursday.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse.