Linda and Loretta Sanchez

• Born: January 28, 1969
• Place of Birth: Orange, California, U.S.

During the 2002 elections, there were many congressional races that drew more than the average amount of attention. Incumbents were unseated and favorites lost tight elections to relative unknowns, but perhaps one of the most interesting races was in California, where Democrat Linda Sanchez was elected to the House of Representatives. She was new to politics, and this was her first candidacy. However, what put her in the spotlight was the fact that Linda Sanchez's election marked the first time in history that two sisters would serve together in Congress. Her older sister, Loretta Sanchez, a Congress member from California, had won reelection as well. On January 7, 2003, the Sanchez sisters made history and took the congressional oath of office side by side in the House of Representatives.

Early Life

Linda and Loretta Sanchez are the children of immigrants from Mexico. Their mother, Maria, and father, Ignacio, both worked as fruit pickers in the groves of Orange County, California. Loretta and Linda are the second and sixth of the Sanchez family's seven children. Their mother raised the children while working as a teacher's aide, and their father worked as a retired machinist. Though neither parent finished high school, Maria earned her degree in bilingual education when she was in her forties and later became a teacher. Education was highly prized in the Sanchez family, and both Ignacio and Maria expected great things from their children. Though they shared similar values and political positions, the sisters' journeys to public office took different paths. They both attended public school in Anaheim, California, but from there went on to separate colleges and careers.

Loretta Sanchez

Loretta Sanchez was born in Lynnwood, California, on January 7, 1960. She was raised in Anaheim and graduated from local Katella High School in 1978. She attended Chapman University in Orange, California, and earned a bachelor's degree in economics in June 1982. Following graduation, Loretta enrolled at American University in Washington, DC, to pursue her master’s degree in business administration. She spent a year studying in Rome, Italy, and earned her MBA with a concentration in finance in 1984.

With her education completed, Loretta entered the world of high finance. She worked as an associate at Booz, Allen and Hamilton, where she devised financial plans for private clients as well as towns and municipalities. The area of municipal finance was a particular specialty for Loretta, and she concentrated her efforts on that field. She eventually opened her own financial consulting business in Santa Ana, California, advising municipal clients on cost-benefit issues, capital acquisition, and other financial management strategies. The State of California appointed her to independently review the plans and financial records for Orange County's first toll road. Her audit resulted in savings of nearly $300 million in finance costs and fees.

In 1996, Loretta set her sights on a Congressional seat. Her own representative had refused to meet with her about some of her ideas for the district, sparking her decision to run. Her entire family was involved in her campaign, knocking on doors, bringing in votes from local businesses, and working in her campaign headquarters. She faced nine-term incumbent Congressman Bob Dornan, a fiercely conservative Republican. Loretta, a liberal Democrat advocating gay rights, abortion access, and health and medical care for poor immigrants, represented the opposite end of the political spectrum. During her campaign, she personally met more than 65,000 voters in the district, at times making her case in both Spanish and English.

When the votes were tallied, Loretta Sanchez had won the race by only 984 votes. Dornan challenged the results, alleging that undocumented immigrants had voted. A Congressional investigation showed that some 748 ballots were cast by undocumented immigrants. However, this only narrowed the margin and was not enough to void the election. For the first time in almost twenty years, California's 47th Congressional District would be represented by a Democrat. Loretta was the first woman and the first Latina to be elected from the 47th District.

When it came time for the 1998 elections, Loretta again faced her former opponent, Dornan. In this election, though, the results told a very different story when she won by a margin of 17 percent. Loretta's younger sister Linda was very involved in the campaign and served as the field manager, setting up speaking engagements and public appearances. During her second term in Congress, Loretta served as the co-chair of the Democratic National Committee and was the ranking woman on the House Armed Services Committee. In her third election bid, Loretta won in a landslide, garnering 60 percent of the vote. In 2002, she was unchallenged in the Democratic primaries. Shortly after being sworn in for her fourth term, in February 2003, Loretta was named to the newly created Select Committee on Homeland Security.

Linda Sanchez

Like her older sister, Linda Sanchez was born and raised in Orange County, California. Nine years younger than Loretta, Linda also attended public school in Anaheim. Rather than studying economics and finance as her sister had, Linda pursued a liberal arts degree at the University of California–Berkeley. She graduated in 1992 with a BA in Spanish literature with an emphasis on bilingual education. While at the University of California, Berkeley, she earned money for tuition by working as a bilingual education aide and ESL tutor.

After Berkeley, she entered law school at the University of California–Los Angeles. While enrolled at UCLA Law, she spent a summer working for the National Organization for Women's Legal Defense Fund in New York City. During this internship, she gained experience in appellate law, women's rights, and sexual harassment law. In 1995, she graduated and passed the California state bar exam. While practicing employment law, Linda still found time to be extensively involved in her sister's 1996 campaign for Congress. Also, she took a leave of absence from her practice during her sister's campaign in 1998 to serve full-time as Loretta's field manager. When Loretta won by a 17 percent margin, she credited Linda's grassroots campaign strategy with securing such a wide margin of victory.

After Loretta's 1998 campaign, Linda returned to the field of labor law and began working with California Local 441 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Her job involved working with labor and management to investigate wage and hour issues. During the course of her work with the union, she helped prosecute contractors who were underpaying workers on public and private jobs. Linda went on to head the Orange County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and was distinguished as the first woman to hold such a position.

As a result of California's growing population, the state received an extra seat in Congress in time for the 2002 election year. The Democrat-controlled California legislature reapportioned the district to favor a Democratic candidate for the 39th District. When she decided to run for the new congressional seat, Linda consulted her sister Loretta first for advice and strategy. Linda faced five other Democratic challengers in the March 2002 primary, including three other Latinos. Loretta's notoriety allowed her to bring in contributions for her sister's campaign from colleagues and contacts in the political arena. The combination of Loretta's clout and Linda's determined door-to-door campaign style was enough for Linda to win the primary and enter the general election.

Her opponent, Republican Tim Escobar, was also a Latino candidate and therefore appealed to the same voter base Linda was courting. In addition, he had attended a Christian high school and a Christian college, a definite plus in courting the vote from a largely Catholic district. Once again, Loretta was able to contribute to Linda's campaign by paying for a television ad that featured their mother, Maria Sanchez. This caused a small controversy, with accusations of impropriety and nepotism, but it was not a large enough issue to derail the younger Sanchez's campaign. In November, Linda was elected to Congress after easily defeating Escobar and Libertarian candidate Richard Newhouse with 54 percent of the vote. Loretta also won her election in the 47th district with 60 percent of the vote.

Legacy

The Sanchez sisters were both sworn in to their respective congressional offices on January 7, 2003. They published a joint memoir in 2008, entitled Dream in Color: How the Sanchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress. Each was reelected in 2010.

In 2016, Loretta Sanchez ran in the US Senate election following Senator Barbara Boxer's retirement. Despite a strong performance, Loretta lost the election to future Vice President Kamala Harris. In 2017, Loretta Sanchez was succeeded in the House of Representatives by Lou Correa. After leaving office, she served as executive producer of an NBC network television show, Accidental Candidate, which aired in 2017. She ran unsuccessfully for local offices in California.

Linda Sanchez won reelection to the House of Representatives in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024. Upon her election to vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus in 2016, she became the first woman of color to hold the position in US history.

Bibliography

"About Linda." Vote for Linda, voteforlinda.com/about-linda. Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.

Gamboa, Suzanne. "Rep. Linda Sanchez Makes History in House Leadership Election."NBC News, 30 Nov. 2016, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/rep-linda-sanchez-makes-history-house-leadership-election-n690301. Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.

Goldberg, Leslie. "Ex-Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez Producing Political Drama at NBC (Exclusive)." Hollywood Reporter, 8 Sept. 2017, www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/congresswoman-loretta-sanchez-producing-political-drama-at-nbc-1036587/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.

Myers, John. "Two Democrats Will Face off for California's U.S. Senate Seat, Marking First Time a Republican Will Not Be in Contention."Los Angeles Times, 8 Jun. 2016, www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-senate-primary-election-20160607-snap-story.html. Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.