Steve Garvey, a perennial baseball All-Star in the 1970s and 1980s for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, said Friday he was considering a run for the U.S. Senate in California as a Republican.
It would give the GOP a celebrity name in the high-profile race to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 89, a Democrat, who is the chamber’s oldest member and is retiring at the end of her term. He has recently struggled with health issues that have led some fellow Democrats to call for an early retirement.
In heavily Democratic California, the race has sparked lukewarm interest among Republicans. Only lesser-known candidates have been included.
California hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate since 1988, and a number of prominent Democrats are waiting in the wings, including Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee.
Mr. Garvey, 74, one of baseball’s most prolific hitters before steroids tainted the sport’s record books, said in an interview that he expected to make a decision in the coming weeks. He noted the difficulty of creating a campaign operation.
“You can imagine, it’s like getting an expansion franchise,” he said, using a sports analogy. “It’s a daunting task in California.”
Mr. Garvey, whose deliberations were first reported by The Los Angeles Times, would be a long shot, but his entry into the race could shake up the primary. Under the state’s system, first- and second-place finishers advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
Democrats are so dominant in the state that they are expected to win both seats and compete against each other in the general. Having a Republican candidate with some name recognition could make it more difficult.
Being in the public eye has sometimes brought unwanted attention to Mr. Garvey. Although he cultivated a reputation for avoiding vice and being a gambler, shortly after leaving the game he admitted that he had fathered children by two different women, shortly before marrying a third.
When asked Friday how he felt about the dazzle of the candidacy, Mr. Garvey said that would not discourage him.
“I probably had one good spring training in the last 50 years,” he said.
