Tax debt shadows Steve Garvey as he runs for Senate

California Republican Senate candidate Steve Garvey is working to pay off his debt by the end of the year.

Steve Garvey, the Republican Senate candidate in California, struggled to pay his taxes following his Major League Baseball career while serving as an entrepreneur and pitchman for alternative health remedies.

Garvey and his businesses were named in more than 40 tax liens, federal and state, totaling about $3.85 million over the last four decades, according to documents at recorders offices, largely in Los Angeles and Riverside counties.

A Garvey campaign spokesperson said he is working to pay off the debt when approached by POLITICO about the outstanding liens.

The review of Garvey’s liens offers the most comprehensive look to date of the 75-year-old former ballplayer’s long-standing financial problems as he lofts toward the November runoff against Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the heavy favorite to win a full Senate term following the death last year of Dianne Feinstein.

Twelve of Garvey’s federal tax liens totaled more than $3.2 million since 1994. Much of the rest of the debt in Garvey’s name, about $575,000, was in state tax liens. Six of the state tax liens were executed between June 2018 and October 2023 that total more than $250,000 and the Los Angeles and Riverside county records show they haven’t been satisfied.

Debt has long shadowed Garvey like no batting slump he ever faced in the 1970s and 1980s.

Once heralded as baseball’s “Mr. Clean,” Garvey fell hard after leaving the diamond in 1987 and wandering into a patchy career of infomercials and motivational speaking gigs. He never recovered. He was a captivating slugger, a 10-time All-Star with World Series pedigree and a lavish off-the-field lifestyle of luxury cars, boutique shopping sprees and dazzling vacations.

Garvey dreamed of Cooperstown and talked about a political life in Washington. So destined was Garvey for elected office that articles about his retirement teased a future run. But his life blew up in the most public way, in court dramas and custody battles that received tabloid treatment.

“Some people have a mid-life crisis,” Garvey told Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly in 1989, part of a catalog of clips that read like a Greek tragedy. “I had a mid-life disaster.”

Garvey tried to make it in the media, hawking autographed balls and bats to fans, laboring as a motivational speaker and putting his name on health products. He sold personalized salutations on Cameo, for $149 a pop.

When The Guardian asked Garvey over Cameo if he could make a video while running for Senate, someone responded from the account at 11:50 p.m. on Monday, the night before the election: “Hi … Yes,” they wrote.

Garvey is now listed on the service as “temporarily unavailable.”

Liens are legal claims against assets that are used as collateral to satisfy debt. For tax purposes a lien is released when the payment is made in full or the person agrees to a payment plan.

Garvey has made some progress on the debt since his darkest days. Four federal liens totaling nearly $2 million were released in 1998, reporting that the balance was paid, according to records. And about $47,000 in the state tax liens were released between 2010 and 1985, the review found.

Some of the liens also named Garvey’s wife, Candace.

The most recent federal tax lien was executed in November 2018 for $324,628. The unpaid balance was for the tax periods ending in December 2005 and December 2006. His most recent state tax lien was executed last October for $25,742. The unpaid balance was recorded in 2014 for the 2012 tax year.

Several of Garvey’s older state tax liens include penalties and interest ranging from the low hundreds to nearly $17,000. He owes hundreds of dollars more in collection fees.

The review of federal, state and county filings found Garvey and his current and former businesses (Garvey Communications, Garvey Media Group and Garvey Marketing Group, among them) still under a mountain of debt since his baseball career came to an end.

He has been in arrears for expenses large (hundreds of thousands to lawyers) and small (hundreds of dollars to gardeners and handymen and housekeepers). In another memorable interview, with the Los Angeles Times from 2006, Garvey spoke wistfully about someday clearing his debt ledger.

“Do I expect to pay every debt? Do I want to? Absolutely,” Garvey said. “The day I’m able to be debt-free is the day I’m going to be the happiest guy around.”

Eighteen years later, he’s still planning to move past an issue that’s been deeply embarrassing. Garvey has acknowledged his unpaid debts at points in the Senate campaign, and recently told Fox News Digital that “We have been working diligently with our accountant and the IRS to resolve this debt by the end of the year.”

Garvey’s statement to Fox came in response to a McClatchy report on his February financial disclosure statement for the Senate bid. The self-reported data showed Garvey owing state and federal taxes totaling at least $350,000 and as much as $750,000. Schiff seized on the story that ran in The Sacramento Bee to compare his opponent to former President Donald Trump, arguing that, “while millions of Californians play by the rules and pay their taxes, Steve Garvey refuses to pay his.”

Garvey has taken pains to avoid any ties to Trump, refusing to say whether he’d vote for the fellow Republican for a second presidential term, or even if he voted for him in March. Garvey voted for Trump in 2020 and 2016.

His financial disclosure showed he incurred between $250,001 and $500,000 in federal tax liability and between $100,001 and $250,000 to the state of California, both for taxes in 2011. Garvey also owes 8 percent interest on the balance.

While he’s done little in the way of traditional campaigning, Garvey was able to consolidate Republican support in the March primary, with an assist from Schiff. He’s keen on sports metaphors and his political talking points are heavy on generalities.

Lately, he’s been spotted at Los Angeles Dodgers games and golf events, where he mugged for selfies in a cocoon of warm nostalgia.