Congressmember Adam Schiff had a conclusive victory in yesterday’s primary election, and is now poised for victory in November.
(Photo credit: Andrew Harnik / Associated Press).
In the race to replace the late Dianne Feinstein, Congressmember Adam Schiff is now the clear favorite after coming first in the primary with 33% support. Republican Steve Garvey beat out Congressmembers Katie Porter and Barbara Lee (who got 14% and 7% respectively) to come second and advance to the general election. Given Democrats outnumber Republicans roughly two to one, it’s now all but certain that Adam Schiff will become the next US Senator from California.
For marijuana reform advocates, this will be a welcome change. Despite being a Democrat and considered a progressive on many issues, former Senator Feinstein remained opposed to legalizing or even decriminalizing marijuana nationwide throughout her full career, despite her state legalizing marijuana in 2016. Feinstein was in the US Senate from 1993 to 2023.
Adam Schiff, on the other hand, has voted to legalize marijuana nationwide on multiple occasions, and he’s also been supportive of numerous other marijuana-related bills. He will be a clear advocate for marijuana-law reform in a chamber that has quite a few; but more is always better when it comes to support for a contentious issue.
This could become particular important if Democrats take control of the House of Representatives this November. If they do, they will almost certainly send at least one marijuana-related bill to the Senate.
In the Senate Race, Schiff spent millions of dollars promoting Steve Garvey, the political strategy being that given California has so many Democrats, Schiff will have a far easier general election contest against Garvey than either Porter or Lee.
