Brawl for a U.S. Senate seat looking too close to call
Voters will choose a U.S. senator this year to fill the seat currently occupied by Sen. Laphonza Butler, a Democrat. Butler was appointed to the seat last fall after Sen. Dianne Feinstein died. Californians will vote twice, once to fill the remainder of the term, which ends in January, and again for the six-year term that begins that month. Feinstein had held the seat for nearly 32 years. Candidates listed below are those receiving at least 3% in the Jan. 4-8 Berkeley IGS poll of likely California voters.
Adam Schiff
Party: Democrat
Age: 63
Birthplace: Framingham, Massachusetts
Residence: Burbank, California
Occupation: Member of Congress, 30th district (Burbank, Los Angeles area)
Education: Stanford University, Harvard Law School.
Offices held: Assistant U.S. Attorney, 1987-1993; California State Senator, 1996-2000; Congressman, 2001-present
Campaign website address: https://adamschiff.com/
Q: What steps will you urge to help reduce federal deficits?
We need to grow our economy by helping small businesses succeed, repeal Trump era tax cuts for the very wealthy and big corporations, stop corporations from offshoring jobs and profits, strengthen the IRS so it can target tax cheats, and make our tax code more progressive by helping working families, seniors, and young people. And we must tackle excessive spending by the Pentagon and eliminate waste, abuse, and fraud in other government agencies.
Q: What changes, if any, do you support if Congress decides to consider altering Obamacare?
I worked with Speaker Pelosi to pass the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to expand health insurance to millions of Californians. During the struggle to pass it, I fought to create a Medicare-like “public option.” Since then, I’ve fought to expand Medicare and Medicaid, including covering vision, dental and hearing, and lowering Medicare’s enrollment age. I believe we need to pass Medicare for All and bring down prescription drug costs.
Q: What steps should the Senate take to promote steps to combat climate change?
The Inflation Reduction Act was the most significant attack on climate change in history, but it must be just the first step. I’ll work to pass the Green New Deal, make a substantial new investment in renewable energy to create millions of green jobs, end our reliance on fossil fuels, rebalance the Supreme Court, make our state more drought and wildfire resilient, and fight against environmental injustices harming communities of color.
Q: Do you want to see the Senate’s filibuster rule change?
Yes. I would eliminate the filibuster. To restore voting rights and reproductive freedom, to take meaningful action against the scourge of gun violence, to protect LGBTQ+ equality, to make the economy work for everyone and restore collective bargaining rights, we need to do away with the filibuster. The filibuster has a pernicious history of perpetuating Jim Crow in the past, and it is being used to protect a new generation of discriminatory laws.
Katie Porter
Party: Democrat
Age: 50
Birthplace: Fort Dodge, IA
Residence: Irvine, CA
Occupation: Member of Congress, 47th district (Orange County)
Education: B.A. from Yale University and J.D. from Harvard Law School
Offices held: Member of Congress, 2019-present
Campaign website address: katieporter.com
Q. What steps will you urge to help reduce federal deficits?
I believe strongly in accountability for our tax dollars. We should scrutinize every dollar the federal government spends and verify that we are getting a return on investment. When we invest in communities—in schools, affordable housing, and reducing pollution—it helps all Californians thrive. To have credibility as we are making these investments, we also have to root out government waste. I have used my position on the House Oversight Committee to expose how Big Defense Contractors cheated taxpayers with defective plane parts and to call out Big Pharma and Big Insurance ripping off taxpayers by overcharging Medicare. I have voted against defense budgets that were so bloated even the military said they didn’t need that much money. Sadly, a number of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle—many of them taking campaign donations from defense contractors—took the opposite approach.
Q. What changes, if any, do you support if Congress decides to consider altering Obamacare?
I oppose repealing the Affordable Care Act, but ultimately, we should have a Medicare For All system, which will deliver the highest quality care with the most choice and lowest cost. For too long, career politicians have stood by while corporate special interests write our health policy, which has allowed Big Insurance to restrict us with networks and Big Pharma to price gouge us year after year. I’ve forcefully advocated for Medicare For All, including showing in a hearing how it would save money on administrative costs, and I’ve done so since I was elected to Congress in 2018 as the first Democrat to ever represent my area.
As I’ve fought for Medicare For All, I’ve secured new laws to bring costs down and will continue to push for improvements to our health care system. For example, I drafted a new law holding insurance companies accountable for failing to cover mental health services. I also spearheaded a new law that closed a loophole insurance companies use to deny certain types of care to public sector workers, including educators and education support professionals. And I wrote a new law that’s holding Big Pharma accountable for hiking drug prices faster than the rate of inflation.
Q. What steps should the Senate take to promote steps to combat climate change?
We’re seeing the consequences of Washington’s decades-long failure to take bold action on climate across California, from record heat waves to intense flooding that ruin crops, reduce productivity, and take lives. As the only candidate who’s never taken corporate PAC money, refuses donations from federal lobbyists, and sits on the House Natural Resources Committee, I’m not afraid to stand up to polluters and lead efforts to invest in our clean energy future. I wrote a new law that raises the fee we charge polluters to drill on our public lands, for the first time in a century, and I successfully pressed the Biden Administration to require Big Oil to pay more money up front before drilling, so taxpayers aren’t on the hook for cleanup after.
Clean energy has the potential to deliver thousands of good, high-paying jobs in construction, manufacturing, research, education, and more. The country that dominates clean energy today will have the strongest economy tomorrow. That can and should be the United States, led by California. I support investments in clean energy and in efforts to protect workers and communities so that no one gets left behind as we push boldly towards clean energy and away from fossil fuels.
Q. Do you want to see the Senate’s filibuster rule change?
Absolutely. The filibuster is blocking democracy. Created initially to undermine civil rights legislation, the filibuster is still used to slow walk progress, like meaningful gun safety reforms that would save lives. Senators shouldn’t get to hide behind an archaic rule to avoid taking specific votes. Their constituents deserve to know where they stand, and Americans deserve a Senate that does its job and takes votes.Abolishing the filibuster is part of my Shake Up The Senate plan, which outlines six steps we can take to change the institution so it actually works for Californians. I’m calling for a ban on federal lobbyist contributions, ban on corporate PAC donations, eliminating pet project funding for politicians (also known as earmarks), banning Senators from trading stocks, banning singular holds on nominations, and boosting transparency on what meetings Senators take.
Barbara Lee
Age: 77
Birthplace: El Paso, TX
Residence: Oakland, CA
Occupation: Member of Congress, 12th district (Oakland)
Education: Mills College, B.A., University of California, Berkeley, M.S.W.
Offices held: California State Assembly, 1990-96; California State Senate, 1996-98; U.S. House of Representatives, 1998-present
Campaign website address: barbaraleeforca.com
Q. What steps will you urge to help reduce federal deficits?
Put simply, we need to take on corporate greed. While working class Californians are struggling to feed their families and heat their homes, corporate profits are at a 70-year-high. While we pay $6 for a gallon of gas, the biggest oil companies in America are spending more than $70 billion dollars not to reduce gas prices, but to buy back their own stock and increase dividends to their shareholders. We can generate revenue by demanding big corporations pay their fair share through a windfall profits tax and policies like my OLIGARCH Act, and direct those funds to meet the needs of working families in California and nationwide.
We also need to drastically rethink how we allocate and spend our federal funds— one major component is the bloated Defense budget. With legislation like my People Over Pentagon Act we can cut the Defense budget and reallocate taxpayer money to critically-needed healthcare, child care, affordable housing, and other priorities for our communities.
Q. What changes, if any, do you support if Congress decides to consider altering Obamacare?
When President Obama brought the Affordable Care Act to the table, I demanded a public option. It is past time for the United States to join every other major country on earth and guarantee healthcare to its citizens — I support building on the progress we’ve made with the ACA to finally implement Medicare For All, a single-payer health insurance system with no co-payments and no deductibles. Health care is a human right not a privilege.
Q. What steps should the Senate take to promote steps to combat climate change?
I want a healthy, safe future for all our children and grandchildren so that they never have to face this peril—but we must invest in bold policies that address the climate emergency head on, especially in communities that have experienced generations of environmental injustice. It’s why I co-authored, and will continue to champion, the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act, which will fundamentally change how pollution is regulated, how regulations are enforced, and how communities can participate in the regulatory decision making process.
The Green New Deal is a critical piece of legislation to kickstart a clean energy revolution, generate millions of high-wage jobs, and prioritize communities of color disproportionately impacted by climate change. As an original co-sponsor, I support its full passage — in the interim, I will also put forward legislation that builds on the principles from the resolution and aids its effective implementation, such as The Green New Deal for Cities and the Civilian Climate Corps.
Q. Do you want to see the Senate’s filibuster rule change?
Yes — we need to abolish the filibuster. No lawmaker should have the ability to single-handedly veto fundamental rights. The Jim Crow-era filibuster was used to defeat legislation to advance the human rights of African-Americans; now, it’s being used to deny women access to safe abortions, continue the sale and distribution of assault weapons, suppress the right to vote, install right-wing judges, and infringe on the rights of marginalized Americans.
When I’m in the Senate, I will fight to end the filibuster, codify Roe v. Wade, pass real gun safety reform, strengthen the Voting Rights Act, and protect the rights of every American.
Eric Early
Age: 65
Party: Republican
Birthplace: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Residence: Los Angeles County
Occupation: Law Firm Managing Partner and Co-Owner
Education: Undergraduate: BFA; Graduate: J.D.
Campaign website address: www.EricEarly.com
Q. What steps will you urge to help reduce federal deficits?
(a) Across-the-board discretionary spending cuts (excluding military/defense)
(b) Increase drilling, leasing, and full exploitation of our nation’s vast fossil fuel resources to again make America energy independent, in order to among other things, allow our nation to sell oil and gas to our allies, with profits from the sales used to reduce federal deficits;
(c) Require NATO nations to annually make their required payments in order to lessen the financial burden on America
(d) Review and take steps to begin limiting the size of the federal Administrative state. One place to start would be closing the Department of Education.
Q. What changes, if any, do you support if Congress decides to consider altering Obamacare?
Increased free markets, rather than government Obamacare control of the nation’s healthcare, will help curb Obamacare’s spiraling costs which are being borne by all Americans. More free market control will also increase the quality of healthcare for all Americans. Any changes to Obamacare should be made together with: (a) requiring more transparency for consumers to see the prices they are being charged by hospitals (b) reducing the price of prescription drugs for all consumers and (c) requiring full transparency for all consumers from Big Pharma on the pricing of drugs Big Pharma manufactures and sells.
Q. What steps should the Senate take to promote steps to combat climate change?
We live on one planet. It is called “global warming” for a reason. Thus, when China heats the atmosphere with increased fossil fuel production, the entire world experiences it. In the U.S. Senate, I will support the growth of our fossil fuel industry as well as growth of clean nuclear energy, wind, solar and water energy. China builds at least one coal mining plant for every coal mine we close. But unlike America, every time China (and our other adversaries) produce fossil fuels, they do it with little to no care for the environment. No country produces fossil fuels environmentally cleaner and safer than the United States. Consequently, increased fossil fuel production in America combats climate change, makes America a safer nation, and brings down the cost of living for all Americans.
Q. Do you want to see the Senate’s filibuster rule change?
No. The filibuster rule must not change. The nation must be protected from extreme legislation coming from the Senate, and the filibuster is one of the safeguards that has been in place for over a century, to protect against just that.
Christina Pascucci
Party: Democrat
Age: 38
Birthplace: Los Angeles
Residence: South Bay
Occupation: Former local television journalist
Education: University of Southern California graduate
Offices held: Chair of the Los Angeles County Aviation Commission, honorary Ambassador to Palau.
Campaign website address: Christinaforcalifornia.com
Q. What steps will you urge to help reduce federal deficits?
The federal debt is a serious problem that requires urgent and effective solutions. However, increasing taxes on Americans is not the right way to address it. Instead, we should focus on closing the loopholes that allow large corporations to evade their fair share of taxes. According to some estimates, this could generate at least one trillion dollars per year in revenue for the government. We should also reduce wasteful spending and prioritize the most important issues, such as early childhood education, and empowering small businesses, that have long-term economic benefits for our society.
Q. What changes, if any, do you support if Congress decides to consider altering Obamacare?
One of the main goals of health care reform is to improve the quality and affordability of health insurance for all Americans. That’s why I would propose to make some key changes to Obama Care that would lower premiums and expand coverage for those who need it most. Those would include creating a public option that would compete with private insurers and offer lower prices and better benefits, increase subsidies for low- and middle-income families to make health insurance more affordable and accessible, reduce prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies and import drugs from other countries, and advocate for more preventive and screening coverage options.
Q. What steps should the Senate take to promote steps to combat climate change?
Climate change is considered a controversial topic politically, but it should not be, because ultimately, we have the shared responsibility of protecting the environment. We all want to have clean air, clean water, and a healthy planet for ourselves and our future generations. These are not partisan issues, and they demand collaboration from both parties in the Senate. Tax incentives and renewable energy standards are some of the ways to encourage green innovation, which can make California and the United States self-reliant in energy. Moreover, we should facilitate partnerships between the private and public sectors to create new technology and jobs.
Q. Do you want to see the Senate’s filibuster rule change?
The filibuster has been used by both parties to obstruct the will of the majority and advance their interests, often at the expense of the public good. The filibuster has also eroded the culture of cooperation and compromise in the Senate, and it requires urgent reform. To prevent further misuse, we need measures such as lowering the threshold to end debate from 60 to 55, requiring senators to speak on the floor, and creating a fast-track procedure for certain bills.
Steve Garvey
Party: Republican
Age: 75
Birthplace: Tampa, Florida
Residence: Palm Desert
Occupation: Former Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres first baseman, 1969-1987, currently businessman, motivational speaker
Education: B.S., Michigan State University
Website address: https://stevegarvey.com/steves-story/
Did not respond to request for answers to questions
James Bradley
Only running for the six-year term
Party: Republican.
Age: 66
Birthplace: Warwick, Rhode Island
Residence: Laguna Niguel
Occupation: Founder/President/Chief Executive Officer, Zap Holdings, Incorporated, 2019-present; Chief Finance Officer and Co-Chief Operations Officer, EmpathaCM, 2015-present; Commander, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Education: National University, B.A., business administration, M.B.A., financial management.
Campaign website: https://bradleysenate.com/
Biographical information from VoteSmart https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/biography/179297/james-bradley
The campaign did not respond to a request for answers to questions
Sharleta Bassett
Only running for the six-year term
Occupation: Businesswoman, farmer
Office held: Former Mayor of Biggs, California
No response received
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