Loretta Sanchez

[edit] Americola's celebrity biographies are provided by AmericolaWiki, a celebrity wiki. You can help contribute to Americola and edit this article.

Loretta Sanchez
Image:Loretta Sanchez official photo.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 47th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 7 1997–
Preceded by	Bob Dornan
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	January 07 1960 (age 48) Lynwood, California, USA
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	single
Religion	Roman Catholic

Loretta Sanchez (born January 7 1960), an American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997. She currently represents the 47th Congressional District of California (map) in central Orange County.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Background 1.2 Entry into politics 1.3 Loretta Sanchez in popular culture 1.4 2003 Gubernatorial recall election 2 Political positions 3 Hispanic Caucus controversy 4 Political ambitions 5 Notes 6 External links

Biography

Background

Sanchez was born in Lynwood, California and graduated from Katella High School in Anaheim in 1978. She received her undergraduate degree from Chapman University in Orange in 1982, obtained her MBA from American University in Washington, DC in 1984, and was a financial analyst until entering the House. A daughter of working-class Mexican immigrants, Sanchez describes herself as growing up a "shy, quiet girl" who did not speak English. She credits government with much of her success in public life.^[1] She is the daughter of poor, immigrant parents, a unionized machinist father and a secretary mother, who worked to organize plant workers into a union. She is one of seven kids (all of whom went to college).^[2] Sanchez joined the United Food and Commercial Workers when she scooped ice cream in high school, and she had a union scholarship to college.

Entry into politics

In 1994 Sanchez ran unsuccessfully as a moderate Republican for the Anaheim City Council under her then married name, Loretta Brixey. In 1996, she changed parties and recast herself as a moderate Democrat to run in the 46th District against controversial six-term Republican incumbent Bob Dornan.

The bitterly fought race saw Sanchez charge that Dornan was out of touch with his constituency, especially after a distracting run for the 1996 Republican Presidential nomination. The 46th had always had a Democratic tilt, but became even more Democratic after the 1990 census when it received a considerably larger number of Hispanics than had previously been in the district. Sanchez won by only 984 votes.

Dornan contested the election, alleging that many votes in the election were cast by people who were not U.S. citizens. Although a Congressional investigation found evidence that 624 votes were cast by non-citizens in the election (in addition 124 improper absentee votes), the outcome was upheld by a Republican-controlled Congress,^[3] and Sanchez became the first Latina to represent Orange County in Congress. She is also the first (and as of 2006, only) Democrat to represent a significant portion of Orange County since Dornan ousted Jerry Patterson in 1984.

According to a right-wing journal, an investigation into the election by the INS revealed that up to 4,023 ineligible voters had voted in the election.^[4]

In a 1998 rematch, Sanchez handily defeated Dornan and has not faced serious opposition since. Her district was renumbered the 47th District after the 2000 census. In 2006, she defeated perennial candidate Tan D. Nguyen with 62% of the vote.

In November 2002, Sanchez's younger sister, Linda, was elected for the new 39th District. They are the first pair of sisters to serve simultaneously in the United States Congress.

Loretta Sanchez in popular culture

Loretta Sanchez was mentioned by name in the song "Ni de aquí, ni de allá" by Jae-P in a verse signifying the rise of Latinos in society: "...el latino hoy en día no es un simple lavaplatos Hey, Loretta Sanchez quién te limpia tus zapatos..." In English this translates as: "...the Latino nowadays is not a dishwasher. Hey, Loretta Sanchez who cleans your shoes for you...." ^[5]

The Hispanic Caucus Controversy (see below) was parodied on the Colbert Report on February 7 2007.^[6] On February 8 2007, the phrase "Loretta Sanchez is a whore?" appeared on screen during "The Wørd" segment of the Colbert Report, eliciting laughs from the audience.

2003 Gubernatorial recall election

During the California's Gubernatorial recall campaign, Sanchez was one of the first Democrats to break from Governor Gray Davis and state that a Democrat should run to succeed Davis in case the recall measure passed. Though she recommended that the Democratic candidate be California’s Senior Senator Dianne Feinstein, Sanchez stated that if no other serious Democratic contender stepped forward, she would be willing to run herself. Many California Democrats ultimately adopted Sanchez’s position, paving the way for Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante to enter the race.

Political positions

Sanchez is known for her interests in education, crime, economic development, and protections for senior citizens. She staunchly opposed the Republican's Head Start program overhaul in the 108th Congress, invoking her experience growing up poor and challenged by a speech impediment. "I know about these kids, because I am one of those kids," she said during debate on the bill. "It hurts to hear you talk about how we are not successful, or how we are losers. But we are very successful. We have had a lot of successes with Head Start," she said. Sanchez often asserts that conservative Republicans are not committed to improving public education.^{[citation needed]} When President Bush’s 2003 budget proposal threatened to cut education grants, she responded, "If he can run deficits for the military, then he can run deficits to educate our children."^[7]

She is the second-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. She is also a member of the Armed Services Committee, and has inquired into sexual assault in the military and service academies, which investigations revealed was much more prevalent than previously thought. As a result, she led the fight to change sexual assault provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. She also sought to reverse the ban on abortions at overseas military bases and installations.

Sanchez is fairly liberal on social issues. She voted against a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and supports a women's right to choose. Because of her close ties to labor growing up, she often votes labor's way.

However, Sanchez is conservative on fiscal issues. During her first campaign, reflecting her roots as a Republican, she supported tax reform. She is a member of Blue Dog Democrats. She also has sided with conservatives on such issues as amending the Constitution to outlaw flag desecration and encouraging states to prosecute violent juvenile offenders as adults.^[8]

According to Congressional Quarterly, "In 2002, [Sanchez] voted against reviving fast-track procedures for congressional action on trade deals. And, coming from a district with one of the largest Vietnamese communities outside Vietnam, she voted against a trade agreement with Vietnam, saying that political and human rights conditions in that country needed improvement. Her outspokenness led the Hanoi regime to refuse to allow her into the country late in 2004 when she applied for an entry visa to meet with dissidents."^[9] By April 2006, Sanchez had been denied a visa to visit Vietnam four times by the country's officials.^[10]

Sanchez voted against authorizing the president to use force in Iraq on October 10 2002. While she has voted in favor of every appropriation bill for the war in Iraq, she opposed the troop surge in February 2007.^[11]

Hispanic Caucus controversy

In February 2006, Sanchez withdrew from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus's political action committee, along with 5 other members, because the caucus chairman, Joe Baca, authorized political contributions to members of his family who were running for state and local offices in California.^[12] Sanchez and other CHC members also claim that Baca was improperly elected chairman of the caucus in November 2006 because the vote failed to use secret ballots, as required in the group's bylaws.^[13] On January 31 2007, Sanchez quit the CHC because she claims Baca repeatedly treats the group's female members with disrespect. Other female lawmakers have made the same complaint about Baca.^[14] In the election for caucus chairman, only one female member of the 23-member Caucus voted to support Baca's candidacy.^[15]

According to Sanchez and Hilda Solis, Baca also called Sanchez a disparaging name (a "whore") to other lawmakers.^[16][17] Baca denied the charge. Politico.com reported that Sanchez claimed California Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez heard the comment from Baca and repeated it to Sanchez, and that Núñez claims not to recall any such comment.^[18] However, Sanchez claims never to have mentioned Núñez to Politico.com.^[19]

Political ambitions

According to Roll Call, "Sanchez continues to give serious consideration to running for governor in 2010, as well as for the Senate, should Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) choose not to seek a fourth term."^[20] In November 2005, she opened an exploratory committee called People for Loretta 2010.^[21] Many feel that Sanchez stands a good chance to become California's first female governor because of her fundraising ability; the fact that she is from California's fastest and largest growing demographic (the latina/o community); and the fact that she is a woman in a state where 58% of the voting population is female.^[22]

Notes

Wikipedia information about Loretta Sanchez This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Loretta Sanchez". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.