With just three weeks to go until the March 5 Primary Election, California’s four leading candidates for U.S. Senator met for a fiery final debate, a far cry from the months of polite campaigning in the leadup to Tuesday’s showdown.
It was the last chance for the four — Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff of Burbank, Katie Porter of Irvine and Barbara Lee of Oakland as well as Republican ex-Dodger Steve Garvey — to make their case to voters before the primary.
And Porter took it and ran with it, throwing barbs at frontrunner Schiff from start to finish.
The stakes of the showdown were highest for the Irvine Democrat, who according to the latest poll results, has fallen into third place behind front runner Schiff and Republican Garvey. Earlier polling had found Garvey and Porter deadlocked for second place.
“(The poll) is an opportunity to see how Porter reacts,” said Matt Lesenyie, assistant professor of political science at CSU Long Beach ahead of the debate.
And react she did. From the get-go, Porter went after Schiff, saying that career politicians haven’t focused on challenges everyday Americans face, including the cost of housing, childcare and elder care.
“My colleague Rep. Schiff, for example, says he wants to bring down the cost of childcare, but he isn’t on either of the two major Democratic bills that would do that,” she said. “He’s not on a bill to provide rental assistance to people for housing, although all of these things are in his plans. That’s the gap between Congressman Schiff and candidate Schiff.”
Schiff retorted that “there’s nothing easier than putting your name on a bill,” and that he’s “introduced numerous bills to bring down the cost of childcare.”
Earmarks, where individual members of Congress can bypass the federal government’s regular spending process and request money for a local project, was another topic Porter brought up to lambaste Schiff.
“There is a candidate on this stage…
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