Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California has submitted his formal application to fill the vacant Senate seat of Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Schiff officially joined the race on Monday night, making the announcement on X (formerly Twitter). This comes after the House censured him earlier this year for his assertions regarding the alleged conspiracy between Trump and Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
“It’s official – I just filed my paperwork and will be on the ballot to be California’s next United States Senator,” Schiff wrote. “92 days until the March 5th primary – see you on the campaign trail!”
In a competitive field that includes Republican attorney Eric Early and fellow House Democrats Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, Democrat Representative Adam Schiff is vying for the Senate seat left vacant by Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Despite facing a formal censure from the House, Schiff has seen a significant increase in financial support from his base, accumulating over $8 million in campaign contributions. However, Schiff is now confronting allegations of dual residency issues, as he is accused of claiming both Maryland and California as his primary residences for over a decade while benefiting from homeowner tax breaks.
The controversy surrounding Schiff’s residency claims may pose challenges to his U.S. Senate bid announced in January 2023. Schiff has owned a sizable 3,420-square-foot house in Maryland for years but has claimed a homeowner’s tax exemption on a much smaller 650-square-foot condo in Burbank, California, designating it as his primary residence. This maneuver saved him approximately $70 per year in property taxes, totaling $7,000. Notably, Schiff did not seek a comparable exemption for his Maryland property.
Tax records indicate that in 2017, the only year Schiff paid property taxes in California using a personal check, he listed his Maryland address, further intensifying the controversy. An insider revealed to The New York Post that Schiff is seldom present at his modest one-bedroom, one-bathroom California apartment.
“The revelation comes as Schiff faces stiff competition in the California Senate primary against fellow Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee. Deed records reveal that Schiff designated his Maryland property as his primary residence in 2003 when he purchased it for $870,000,” the NY Post reported.
“In 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, Schiff refinanced his mortgage and consistently indicated the Maryland property as his primary residence. Los Angeles County deed records for Schiff’s Burbank condo, purchased in 2009 for $298,000, raise eyebrows as they were notarized in Maryland. The records feature alterations that replaced ‘California’ and ‘Los Angeles’ with ‘Maryland’ and ‘Montgomery County,’ listing Schiff’s Maryland address as the return address. This inconsistency further fuels doubts about his true primary residence,” the outlet added.
In a CNN interview, Marisol Samayoa, Schiff’s campaign spokesperson, asserted that the candidate’s primary residence is in Burbank, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. Schiff is known to reside in Maryland.
Samayoa highlighted Schiff’s relocation to the Washington, DC, area with his wife to spend more time with their children during his congressional duties, referencing various news mentions and his book.
She further claimed that Schiff designates both his Maryland and California addresses as year-round residences, listing them as primary residences for loan purposes to distinguish them from vacation properties.
However, Schiff’s biography on the campaign website from 2010 to 2014, which mentioned raising his family in Burbank, makes no mention of his residence in Maryland.
The New York Post added:
“However, in 2020, Schiff refinanced his mortgage, indicating that the Maryland house was his second home. Yet a social media post from 2021 and school publications and athletic records from the same year suggest that Schiff was still living at the Maryland home.
A telling family photo on Schiff’s website from 2021 matches the exterior of his Potomac home in Maryland. Additionally, a large number of social media posts from the previous year, some of which Schiff himself publicly shared, strongly suggest that he is still a Maryland resident.
On June 7, 2022, on the day of the Democratic primary in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, Schiff posted a photo on Twitter in front of his Maryland home, wearing an “I Voted” sticker. Despite this, his spokesperson insisted that Schiff was in Washington, DC, for House votes and had voted by mail.”
The outlook for Schiff in California’s Senate race appears challenging based on polling.
In the state’s crucial US Senate race, California Democrats exhibited indecision, with none of the candidates securing 60% of the convention delegates’ votes.
The convention delegates gave the highest support to Democrat Reps. Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee, with 40% and 41%, respectively, in the race to succeed the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in 2024. Rep. Katie Porter received 16% of the votes from the 2322 delegates who participated, while 2% chose not to endorse any candidate. The candidates will compete in California’s open top-two primary on March 5, preceding the general election on November 5, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
A recent poll from the University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies indicated that Schiff trails Porter, with 17% of likely voters supporting her. This percentage has remained unchanged since the summer. Schiff’s support has dipped from 20% in August to 16%. Republican candidate Steve Garvey, a former professional baseball player who entered the race last month, garnered 10%, while Lee secured 9%.
