Baseball Star May Defeat 2 Prominent Progressives

The biggest nonpresidential contest on the Super Tuesday ballot is the race to fill the Senate seat of the late Dianne Feinstein in California. The big twist in the deep-blue state is that Republican Steve Garvey has shaken up the race and is in decent position to advance to the general election. Details:

• Three Democrats: A trio of big-name Democrats—Reps. Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee, and Katie Porter—are in the hunt as the party hopes to retain control of Feinstein's seat.
• The athlete: Former Los Angeles Dodgers star Garvey is popular, however, and he now sits behind only Schiff in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. Schiff is at 26%, Garvey at 20%, Porter at 18%, and Lee at 9%.

• Top two: California groups all candidates together regardless of party in the primary, and the top two advance to the general election, notes the AP. Garvey's surge in the polls thus threatens to leave congresswomen Porter and Lee, both prominent progressives, on the sidelines.
• In November: No matter what happens, a Democrat would be favored to win the general election, notes the AP, because the party holds a 2-1 advantage among registered voters. No GOP candidate has won a statewide race since 2006.
• Power position: Axios focuses on the prospects of Schiff and Porter in particular, given their strength in the polls. Schiff is backed by Nancy Pelosi and mainstream party leaders, and he could "solidly position himself as the premier foil to a second Trump administration" should he win Feinstein's seat. Porter, on the other hand, would become "one of the most progressive" senators in the chamber, on par with Elizabeth Warren, who has endorsed her.

(More Dianne Feinstein stories.)