LOS ANGELES (AP) — Democratic Representative Adam Schiff on Tuesday won the California U.S. Senate seat long held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein after a lopsided, low-key contest.

The Los Angeles-area congressman, who rose to national prominence as lead prosecutor in then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, defeated Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey, who had tried to drag his sports celebrity into political turmoil.

In a year of control of the Senate in the gameDemocrats were favored to easily retain the seat in the liberal-leaning state where a Republican candidate has not won a Senate race since 1988, when President Ronald Reagan was in the White House. Schiff had a campaign finance and polling lead over Garvey for months.

Still, the campaign represents a turning point in California politics that has been a long time coming dominated by Feinsteinformer US Senator Barbara Boxer, former Governor Jerry Brown and a handful of other veteran Democratic politicians. The result also means that for the first time in more than three decades, California will no longer have a woman representing it in the Senate.

In a call with his supporters, Schiff pledged in the Senate to work for safe neighborhoods and better schools and to reduce the threat of climate change. California faces struggles, he said, but “together there is no challenge we cannot overcome.”

Garvey said in a concession speech that his campaign has managed to draw attention to problems, from rising crime to runaway spending on homelessness, that have produced little results. “We have taken a position on the impact on California,” Garvey said.

Schiff framed his campaign around national issues, including abortion rights, as he continued to antagonize Trump and called the former president a threat to democracy. He also pitted his years of experience in Congress — Schiff was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2000 — against Garvey, a first-time candidate who positioned himself as an outsider with a fresh perspective to tackle the long-running homelessness crisis. inflation and housing in California. costs.

Garvey, a former MVP and perennial All-Star who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, called himself a “conservative moderate” who shouldn’t settle for conventional political labels, an obvious tone for independent and soft Democratic voters. in a state where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly 2-to-1.

The race has been largely overlooked in a year when control of the Senate will focus on a handful of competitive races, including in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Montana.

The Republican Party has struggled for years in the nation’s most populous state, though it still has strengths in rural areas, Central Valley farmlands and parts of Southern California.

Democrats hold every statewide office and dominate the legislature and congressional delegation by commanding margins. Republicans have not won a statewide race in the state since 2006.

Garvey focused a final advertising campaign on Latinos, who make up about a quarter of likely voters in California.

Feinstein, a centrist Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 1992, died at the age of 90 in September 2023. Laphonza Butler, a Democratic insider and former union leaderwas appointed and decided to the seat after Feinstein’s death not seek a full term of office this year.