California representative Katie Porter (D.) jumped into California’s high-profile Senate race in January armed with a robust fundraising apparatus that helped her amass a $28 million war chest. She took third place in the Tuesday primary.

Former Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey, a GOP political novice with a fraction of her money, on Tuesday ended both her campaign and—for now—her congressional career. Garvey raised just over $2 million and took second place in the Senate primary while Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who raised $31 million, placed first. Garvey and Schiff will face off in November.

Porter's third-place finish, in a race where a year ago she polled neck-and-neck with Schiff, is an embarrassing career-ender for Porter, who sought the national limelight for years by writing statistics on her "whiteboard of justice" and scolding CEOs in committee hearings. Yet experts see her loss as inevitable in hindsight.