Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff will advance to the general election in the hotly contested California Senate race, NBC News projects.
But it’s unclear who he’ll face. Fellow Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, as well as Republican Steve Garvey, a former baseball player, are in the running.
Under California’s rules, the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation. NBC News has not projected who the other candidate will be.
The battle has grown ugly between Schiff and Porter, the top-polling Democrats in the race. Schiff cultivated his national profile by battling former President Donald Trump as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Porter, a populist who flipped a former GOP-held district in 2018, is running on a platform of taking on corporate power and addressing working class economic needs like the cost of child care.
Schiff, who led in many polls in the run-up to the contest, has sought to lock out Porter by running ads elevating Garvey in the hope that he will be his opponent in the fall.