Dodgers legend Steve Garvey amps up Senate campaign with public appearance at US-Mexico border

LA Dodgers legend Steve Garvey is running for the U.S. Senate and has started to campaign in public. The Republican candidate is making multiple stops this week along the U.S. border with Mexico and the Imperial Valley, albeit with limited media coverage.

According to Cal Matters, the events received very little coverage because very few news outlets were informed of the appearances, and not all of them could attend. This makes his candidacy even more mysterious for a general public that has not been advised of many of Garvey's policies.

Interestingly, without knowledge of his policies and a quiet campaign, Garvey is reportedly leading the polls in the March Primary. The four-time Golden Glove winner has made very few appearances in public since October when news of his candidacy broke. According to those reports, Steve Garvey trails Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff.

Garvey was busy on Tuesday, touring the Salton Sea area and giving a TV interview to station KYMA. Discussing the area and the toxic dust long present from an exposed lakebed, Garvey said:

“It’s got a great infrastructure of people who really care about their land in this country, and I’m trying to find out what their needs are.”

Garvey also went to a beef processing business on Tuesday in Brawley. FOX40 News Capitol reporter Eytan Wallace reported that the former San Diego Padre is looking to “address the need for more middle-class jobs in California."

Garvey took a tour of the U.S. border with Mexico with the National Border Patrol on Wednesday and advised that he wants to see the wall finished between the two countries.

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Dodgers legend Steve Garvey will want more media coverage of future public appearances

Given that success in politics requires popularity and exposure, Steve Garvey's media coverage for these public appearances must be a concern.

Flying under the radar is not advisable, and even though the 10-time All-Star and former World Series champion is a household name in California, it's an unexpected approach.

Matt Shupe, a spokesman for Garvey, told Cal Matters that “there was only space for one” reporter at Wednesday's event. He said this was the decision of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. However, San Diego agency spokesperson Michael Scappechio said the CBP was not facilitating the event and could not have limited media access.

Shupe also mentioned that on Tuesday, they invited local media to the event, but on that day, only KYMA attended.

While this may have been an error or simply bad timing, it will be interesting to see if Steve Garvey makes more noise on the campaign trail in the coming months.