SAN FRANCISCO (KRON/NEXSTAR) — The four leading candidates in the race to fill the United States Senate seat long held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein met on the debate stage Monday night for the Inside California Politics Senate Debate at the KRON4 News studio in San Francisco.
The candidates in Monday night’s debate were Democrats Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), Rep. Katie Porter (D-Orange County) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), along with Republican front-runner Steve Garvey.
The debate began with the candidates offering opinions on whether President Joe Biden should issue an executive order to secure the border. Rep. Schiff called the idea of a border wall “draconian,” but said he supported executive action on the border. Rep. Porter called for a “lawful, orderly and humane” immigration system but declined to directly say she supported executive action on the border.
Rep. Lee called for “comprehensive” border reform while saying that she supported executive action on the border.
Garvey laid the blame for the current situation on the border on President Biden and called for a clampdown on illegal migrants entering the country.
Watch the exchange on the border below
Recent polls have seen Schiff maintain his status as front-runner. In a recent ad, the Burbank representative, who established a national profile leading the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump, has tried to cast the race as a binary choice between himself and leading GOP candidate, Garvey.
Garvey, a former Major League Baseball great with no political experience, has pulled level with Porter in second place, according to recent polls. Porter, meanwhile, the SoCal rep famous for her whiteboards, needed a breakout moment in Monday’s debate, according to one political analyst.
The same might be said for Lee. The Bay Area progressive has fallen behind in both fundraising and the polls, having seen her support among voters surveyed drop to single digits.
In Monday’s debate, she addressed her calls for a $50 minimum wage.
“Just do the math. Of course, we have national minimum wages that we need to raise to a living wage, we’re talking about $20-$25, fine. But I’ve got to be focused on what California needs,” the congresswoman said.
Candidates weigh in on minimum wage
The other candidates on the stage offered differing views on minimum wage, with Garvey distinguishing himself by saying he didn’t believe minimum wage needed to be changed.
‘Once a Dodger, always a Dodger’
After being hit by a zinger from Rep. Porter in the first debate over whether he planned to vote for Trump, Garvey was again evasive when it came to the former president. This time, the former MLB great refused to say whether or not he’d accept an endorsement from former president Donald Trump. (Watch his answer below)
Candidates on Israel-Hamas conflict
Whether very little daylight between the race’s three leading Democrats on most issues, the question of how they viewed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas offered them a chance to differentiate themselves.
While all four candidates supported Israel’s right to defend itself, they offered differing opinions with Lee calling for a permanent ceasefire, Porter pushing for a bilateral ceasefire, and Schiff calling for a “humanitarian pause.”
Garvey was the only candidate on stage who declined to back a two-state solution, saying that “to think that there would be a two-state solution is naive, because one of those states will always try to annihilate Israel.”
The debate was moderated by Inside California Politics hosts Nikki Laurenzo and Frank Buckley.