Schiff leads in California Senate race as in-person voting centers set to open, poll shows

A new poll released Friday by the Public Policy Institute of California shows Rep. Adam Schiff leading in the campaign for U.S. Senate at 24%, but who Schiff will face in the November runoff election remains unclear.

"I think there would be a lot of bloodlet in a race between Katie Porter and Adam Schiff because we're already seeing that happen. In the recent debates, we're seeing Katie Porter, as she needs to, go after Adam Schiff very hard. That is the type of intra-party fight that the democrats really want to avoid," said Loyola Law School Professor Jessica Levinson.

If the run-off ends up being between Adam Schiff and baseball star Steve Garvey, it would mark the first time in 30 years California would not have a female senator.

In the PPIC poll released this week, Rep. Katie Porter is at 19% with Garvey right behind at 18%. In the December PPIC poll, Garvey was at 10%, but his polling strength has now grown 8 percentage points to 18%.

"This would be wonderful news for Adam Schiff, but also for a lot of democrats on the national level who don't want to see this as a competitive race because they know this senate seat is going to go to a democrat, and they'd rather that time and resources go into competitive senate races throughout the country," said Levinson.

If you're someone who prefers to vote in person, LA county will open 119 vote centers on Saturday, 10 days before the final day of voting on March 5. The rest of the vote centers will open March 2, with the county operating 644 in-person voting locations.

"You as a voter can go to any one of those locations in the county, so you don't have to go to a particular assigned location," said L.A. County Registrar Dean Logan. "We send you a mailing that tells you those that are closest to your residence, but you can go anywhere in the county. And if you- also want to emphasize that if you haven't yet registered to vote, or you want to change your party, or if you have changed your address, you can go in, in person to one of those locations and make that change as well."

The county is also offering a variety of ways for voters to return their ballots. Voters can put them in the mail no postage required. Voters can drop them at one of the 400 secure drop boxes in the county or drop them at any of the 644 in person vote centers.