Porter, Schiff and Lee make final Senate pitch across California, with Garvey nowhere to be seen
LA TimesRep. Katie Porter, right, and her son, Luke Hoffman, center, 18, who is a first-time voter, are helped by customer service representative Jennifer Martin at a voting station at University Hills Community Center in Irvine on Saturday. Before he appeared, supporters milled around carrying signs that read “Schiff for Senate” and others that showed a Shepard Fairey rendition of Schiff’s apple-cheeked face. Some wore buttons that showed a young, shirtless Schiff on a bicycle with the caption: “Ridin’ With Schiff.” Miten Bhatt, 55, of San Bernardino drove to Orange on Saturday morning to see Schiff. She said she didn’t see many meaningful differences in their policy positions, and hoped that seeing Schiff “in the flesh” would help her decide. She also appeared to make a pointed comparison between her and Schiff and Porter, saying, “When people ask what the differences are between myself and my opponents, I just have to say there are more differences than similarities.” All three Democrats entered the race when Feinstein was still alive, and the long shadow of California’s first female senator loomed large over the race in its early days.