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THE BUZZ: California’s Senate race is in full force, but the GOP’s best chance at making it into the top two is staying notably out of the spotlight.

Steve Garvey, the baseball star who graced the televisions of millions of Californians for more than 15 years, has made no public appearances since launching his campaign in early October. While Democratic competitors are duking it out in the public arena, Garvey is staying quiet.

Garvey hasn’t yet had to report any fundraising. But his team hasn’t volunteered any figures — which is common among campaigns as a way to show viability — and declined to say how much they have raised when asked by POLITICO.

Republicans are barely relevant in California, especially when it comes to statewide office. But Garvey for months has been polling in the high single digits — including, recently, ahead of Rep. Barbara Lee — and is seen by both Republicans and Democrats as a viable candidate.

Which is why it seems odd that Garvey hasn’t been hitting the campaign trail harder — or much at all. He hasn’t touted any big-time endorsements. He also skipped the state GOP convention, though it was held in nearby Anaheim just a week before his campaign announcement.

His campaign argues that Garvey is making moves behind the scenes.

Matt Shupe, a Republican political consultant and spokesperson for the Garvey campaign, said the baseball star has been traveling around Southern California and meeting with supporters, primarily fundraising, though his campaign declined to share any specifics. He also recently guested on “John and Ken” the talk radio show based out of LA.

He’s focused on appealing to a broad base of Californians, Shupe said, and the campaign isn’t pursuing endorsements.

“We want Steve Garvey to be defined by Steve Garvey,” he added.

But it doesn’t seem Garvey has been doing much to define himself.

His main GOP competition is Eric Early, a perennial far-right Republican candidate who ran unsuccessfully for attorney general last year and has been scooping up endorsements from Republican county central committees left and right. If Garvey wants a shot at making it into the top two, he’ll need to consolidate conservative voters away from Early, who is polling at 4 percent.

In the event he makes it to November, he’ll face a Democrat with a formidable war chest. Rep. Adam Schiff ended the last quarter with $32 million cash on hand, Rep. Katie Porter reported having $12 million, and Lee ended with $1.3 million.

The reason for Garvey’s absence may be simple — he thinks voters already know him.

Garvey, 74, played first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres between 1969 and 1987, earning him nearly 20 years of free airtime in two of the state’s largest media markets. Even before he entered the race, he was polling as well as Lee.

“Steve has what I think a lot of candidates would love to have, which is people know who he is. They have some awareness of who he is,” said Lanhee Chen, a California Republican who ran for controller last year “Having run statewide now, I’m fairly convinced that the one thing you cannot replicate is name ID.”

But name recognition is only one piece of the puzzle, and we’ll be watching closely to see if a clearer campaign emerges.

GOOD MORNING. Happy Monday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook.

PLAYBOOK TIP LINE — What’s on your political wishlist for the new year? Give us a ring or drop us a line.

Now you can text us at ‪916-562-0685‬‪ — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts now. Or drop us a line at [email protected] and [email protected], or on Twitter —@DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte

WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

TRIVIA NIGHT: We’re hosting a holiday-themed trivia night in Sacramento! Join POLITICO’s California team on Dec. 12 for an evening of political wonkery and libations at the Fox & Goose Public House on R Street. The games start at 6 p.m. RSVP here.

P.S. Prize for the most festive and/or hideous holiday outfit!

SPOTTED: HOLIDAY DRAG EDITION — at Rep. Robert Garcia’s (D-Calif.) drag birthday fundraiser at Shakers in Washington over the weekend: Jorgeous from RuPaul’s Drag Race, Reps. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Robert Edmonson, Chris Fisher, Robert Curis, Reggie Greer, Todd Sloves, Sam Alleman, Sam Garrett and Brady King. Pic

RED INK INCOMING — The conversation in Sacramento is about to be engulfed by anxiety over potential budget cuts — and the latest projection suggests the fiscal outlook is only getting worse.

On Friday, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office released an updated forecast that, through the 2024-2025 fiscal year, tax revenues will fall $58 billion short of previous projections.

That will force lawmakers and Newsom’s administration to spend much of the coming legislative session debating budget cuts, as POLITICO’s Blake Jones reported. This year, the state largely avoided painful cuts thanks to technical accounting maneuvers and a pile of federal money. But the path forward will be more tenuous.

The rough outlook comes as the Legislature enters a new era of leadership. Unlike their predecessors, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and incoming Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Mike McGuire will face the difficulty of leading in a time of tightening belts.

YOU’RE OUT! — Congress officially threw Republican George Santos out of the House of Representatives on Friday, thanks, in part, to 17 members of the California delegation changing their votes.

This was the second vote after an earlier effort failed. Along with the many Republicans who initially declined to throw him out in October were also several Democrats, including Orange County’s Katie Porter, who said she felt an expulsion without a determination of wrongdoing raised due process concerns.

A scathing House Ethics Committee report later offered a bit more reassurance, and Porter, along with eight of California’s 12 Republican members, voted to expel him late last week.

Porter didn’t offer a lengthy explanation for her vote, aside from noting in a blog post that the ethics report had shown it was clear that Santos had not only “lied to get elected, but had used running for office as his own get-rich-quick scheme.”

A slate of other Democrats also voted yes on Friday after initially voting no, present, or not voting at all, including: Ami Bera, Mark DeSaulnier, Zoe Lofgren, Jim Costa, Schiff, Grace Napolitano, Brad Sherman, Jimmy Gomez, Mark Takano, and Lou Correa.

The Republicans who switched to “yes” votes included John Duarte, David Valadao, Jay Obernolte, Young Kim, Ken Calvert, and Michelle Steel.

The three California Republicans who voted against ousting him were Darrell Issa, Tom McClintock and Doug LaMalfa. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy did not vote.

— with help from Sejal Govindarao

AD WARS — Gil Cisneros, the former Democratic Congress member and Biden administration official, has a number of Democratic rivals in his bid to succeed Rep. Grace Napolitano in a solid-blue SoCal district. But his new campaign ad takes aim at just one: state Sen. Susan Rubio.

The spot highlights Rubio’s campaign contributions from Big Oil and Big Pharma – perennial bogeymen for progressives who have battled with business-friendly moderates like Rubio. The buy, which Cisneros’ campaign says is in the high six-figures, is for cable and digital ads that will run through December.

Also shelling out for digital ads is Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, but there’s a twist: Her ad makes no mention of the Los Angeles City Council race she’s currently running. Instead, Carrillo is stumping for Proposition 1, the mental health bond that will be on the March ballot, using money from her Assembly campaign committee. The ads will help boost her profile among voters in that Council district – all without dipping into her city campaign coffers.

— Melanie Mason

REFEREE TO THE RESCUE: Newsom’s camp is venting its frustration toward Fox News’ Sean Hannity over the 2-on-1 dynamic of last week’s debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. As our colleague Christopher Cadelago reported, the complaints included DeSantis’ use of props and a teleprompter that was allegedly in DeSantis’ sight line. (POLITICO)

DEER HUNTER: A herd of 2,000 non-native deer are devastating Catalina Island’s unique native flora. But a plan to remove the deer with helicopter-mounted snipers isn’t going over well with residents and animal activists. (The New York Times)

BULLY PULPIT: Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s office received a wave of criticism last week after it barred a local journalist from attending a press conference. Now, Price’s office will allow Emilie Raguso back into the briefing room, at least while the Berkeley Scanner editor’s credentials are “under review.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

BIRTHDAYS — Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) … Amazon’s Rachael Lighty … Jennie Westbrook Courts of the Information Technology Industry Council … Yana Mayayeva … Sarah Schanz …

(was Sunday): Yale Galanter ... Laura Friedman … (was Saturday): Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) … Conyers Davis … Lanna Solnit ... Rena Sofer ... Fred Hechinger ... (was Friday): Ike Perlmutter ... Bette Midler ... Safra Catz ... Sarah Silverman

TRANSITIONS — Michael McShane is now comms director for Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.). He most recently was legislative correspondent and press assistant for Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.).

CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here.

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CLARIFICATION: This has been edited to clarify that Garvey hasn’t yet had to report any fundraising.