During his victory speech after coming in first in California’s U.S. Senate primary, Democratic candidate Adam Schiff was shouted down by protestors shouting pro-Palestine slogans and calls for a cease-fire.
During the speech, Schiff’s aides could be seen attempting to convince him to leave the stage. For his part, the congressional Representative expressed support for the protesters, saying, “We are so lucky to live in a democracy where we all have the right to protest. We want to make sure we keep this kind of democracy.”
Watch video capturing part of the moment below:
Schiff has endorsed the Biden administration’s call for a cease-fire, tied to the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas.
As of 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Schiff, who Represents California’s 30th district in the House of Representatives, came in first. And in second place was Republican Steve Garvey, who Schiff heavily advertised as his primary opponent in a bid to diminish support for his two Democratic primary opponents, Orange County Rep. Katie Porter and Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee.
Due to California’s open primary system, the top two vote getters from the primary will advance to the general election in November. However, as of this writing, only 40% of the vote has been tallied. Schiff has 33.1% of that tally vote, while Garvey has 31.9%. And as always in California, election night returns are by no means a solid indicator of the actual electoral outcomes, thanks to the state’s robust mail-in voting system.
Mail-in ballots can begin being opened and processed up to 29 days before election day, though election officials are forbidden from disclosing the results until the polls close.
However, when the polls close, those totals only account for the ballots that officials have received. Mail-in ballots are valid so long as they’re postmarked by no later than election day, and received no later than seven days after. And untold thousands of those ballots aren’t mailed in until election day. The results aren’t fully certified until 30 days after the election.
The result is what is colloquially referred to as the “red mirage” phenomenon, in which conservative candidates — whose voters are far more likely to cast their votes on election day — appear to be leading or showing greater than expected strength, only for the apparent advantage to dissipate as the full vote is tallied.
A good example of this is the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election, in which conservative Democrat Rick Caruso — previously a lifelong Republican — appeared to lead progressive Democrat Karen Bass when polls closed on election night. A week later, Bass had carved out a commanding 54% lead and was declared the winner.
In other words, if the general election ends up being a contest between Schiff and Garvey, the seat will almost certainly be Schiff’s in January.
