POLITICO to host first California US Senate debate

Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee and Republican Steve Garvey have qualified for the first debate in California’s U.S. Senate race hosted by POLITICO, Fox 11 Los Angeles and the University of Southern California Dornsife Center for the Political Future.

The top four candidates running for the seat of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein qualified for the Jan. 22 debate based on the results of the POLITICO|Morning Consult poll of likely primary voters from mid-December.

The clash in Los Angeles will be the first major televised debate of the Senate race, which pits some of the Democratic Party’s biggest names against each other in one of the nation’s bluest states. It is happening just days before Californians begin receiving their ballots in the mail. The final day to vote in the primary is March 5, and the top-two March finishers regardless of their political party will advance to the November runoff.

The debate, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PST at the Bovard Auditorium on the University Park Campus, will air live on FOX 11 in Los Angeles, KTVU FOX 2 in the San Francisco Bay Area and be livestreamed on POLITICO.

Schiff has far outraised the rest of the field, pulling in record-breaking hauls as he burnishes his national profile as a chief antagonist of former President Donald Trump and his allies. The longtime representative has consistently led the contest in public and private polls, with Porter, Garvey and Lee in a dead heat for second place.

The POLITICO-FOX 11 debate is poised to be a maiden voyage of sorts for Garvey, the retired Los Angeles Dodger who is making his first run for political office, and is the lone Republican qualified for the debate.

The debate will be co-moderated by Elex Michaelson, FOX 11 News anchor and host of California’s statewide political talk show “The Issue Is:" and Melanie Mason, a senior political reporter covering California politics at POLITICO.

The promotional partners for the debate include California Environmental Voters Education Fund, Courage California Institute, East Bay Community Legal Center, Natural Resources Defense Council and several student organizations at USC.

Along with the TV broadcast, the debate will air on KFI-AM 640 radio in Southern California as well as the iHeart Radio app.