Former baseball MVP Steve Garvey to contest to become California Senate

Former baseball MVP Steve Garvey, Credits: Google Images
Former baseball MVP Steve Garvey, Credits: Google Images

Washington DC, United States: Former baseball MVP Steve Garvey joined the race to become California Senate on Tuesday. Garvey will contest to succeed the late Senate Dianne Feinstein.

He will be giving Republicans a splash of star quality on the ballot in a heavily Democratic state, where the GOP has not won the race for Senate in the last 35 years, reported AP.

The former baseball player launched his campaign in a very unique way. He released a video with baseball imagery, recalling his journey in the game, and launched his campaign to become the next Senate of California. Garvey played as a perennial All-Star and played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, along with San Diego Padres.

Through the video message, he hinted that his ideology would be biased towards the ideology of the Former President of the US, Donald Trump.

He was quoted saying, “I never played for Democrats or Republicans or independents. I played for all of you,” as per AP.  

Further, he assured the public that he would focus on the problems that annoy them, including homelessness and a surge in crime rate. Garvey continued, “It’s going to be a common-sense campaign.”

Earlier, in an interview, he stated that his campaign would be focused on reducing crime, improving education as well as working to lessen inflation. He further emphasized the closure of schools during the pandemic and said, “For young children, the extended school shutdowns not only obstructed their pathways to learning, but to social interaction. We’re behind in both of those areas,” according to the AP.

Garvey extending a hand towards former president Trump!

Earlier, in an interview, Garvey outlined that he cast a vote in favor of Trump. However, he avoided when he was asked if he consider himself a part of Trump’s wing.

45th President of US – Donald Trump and Steve Garvey

It is to be noted that despite having support from millions of Republicans and conservative-leaning voters in California, Trump witnessed a landslide defeat in the years 2016 and 2020. He stated that he is running a campaign for Steve Garvey and added, “We need to bring people together again.”

Garvey and his popularity among Californians:

Being a former baseball player for the state, Garvey is a recognized name among the general public of California. However, he is unknown to the younger voters as he played his last major league back in 1987.

Reports suggest that Garvey has been dealing with similar challenges that are faced by a first-time candidate. The challenges faced by the former baseball champion can be narrowed down to – raising funds to advertise making a place among the field of experienced candidates such as Democratic US Representatives Katie Porter, Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee.

It is believed that the race will become more complicated for Garvey, as a new candidate, if Senator Laphonza Butler chooses to participate. It is worth mentioning that Governor Gavin Newsom was appointed to serve following the death of the previous Senate Feinstein.

Garvey showed interest in entering the Senate race in June; his candidacy was widely expected, according to the reports by AP. He has various times pointed out that he may enter politics. After his retirement, he also teased a possible US Senate but never chose to become a candidate.

Back then, he also issued a statement in which he addressed Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner – an apparent reference to the 1980s sex scandal that tarnished the image of the former baseball player as “Mr Clean.” Although, at that time, he admitted that he was having two children with a woman he was not married to.

When asked about that period, Garvey said, “I think our life is a journey. I think there are chapters. Sure, I’ve gone through a difficult time here and there. I’ve learned from it. And I think I’ve been stronger,” reports AP.