Steve Garvey, the leading Republican candidate in the race for the U.S. Senate in California, visited Sacramento on Wednesday to get a glimpse of what the homelessness crisis in the state looks like.
Garvey, who has not run a traditional campaign for public office, has made just a few limited visits to parts of the state but has continued to rise in the polls since launching his campaign in October.
Garvey was joined on his campaign stop by the former sheriff of Sacramento County, John McGinness, to tour an area of North Sacramento where unhoused services and part of the unhoused population are concentrated.
During his stop, Garvey spoke with several people experiencing homelessness about their situation.
“It’s about mental illness,” Garvey told reporters after the tour. “They want to get off the streets. He wanted a job.”
“It’s not about food on the table,” the former first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers said of having a job. “It’s about how you feel in your heart. Accomplishment in your heart. That’s what we need to get back to.”
Garvey then said that those with jobs aren’t getting enough pay from them.
“Fifty percent of the people feel they’re breaking even every day,” Garvey said. “13% feel they’re getting ahead and the rest feel they’re losing.”
“$800 or $900 a month? $11, $12, $13,000 a year when they’re getting up and working harder than they’ve ever worked before?” Garvey said. “Something’s wrong.”
One of the culprits Garvey regularly pointed to for the continued homelessness crisis was an alleged mismanagement of state funds intended to help relieve the issue.
“All the money in the state— stop telling us about the money that’s owed, let’s start putting money toward where it really helps the people of California.”
“Where did the money go and how was it used?” Garvey asked. “I want a deeper dive into accountability… I think at a federal position like the U.S. Senate you can get those answers.”
Aside from homelessness, Garvey listed off other issues he’d like to address.
“We gotta get crime off the street,” Garvey said. “Prosecutors have to prosecute. We need to get inflation down. We have to get back to free market economics that let you go out and work hard and get ahead. We’ve got to close the border. We have a way to citizenship in this country and I think it’s important that we get back to that accessibility by doing it the right way, port of entry, etc.”
Garvey, 75, explained why he says he’ll only serve one term.
“At 81, 82 I will have been given six years to do what I say I’m going to do,” Garvey said. “People know that I’m honest and that when I say I’m going to do something I’m going to accomplish it. And sometimes in politics, it takes time.”
