Loretta Sanchez chose not to run for re-election to the House in 2016, instead opting to run in the US Senate race in California.
53 Facts About Loretta Sanchez
2.
Loretta Sanchez is the sister of Linda Sanchez, who currently represents California's 38th congressional district in the US House of Representatives.
3.
Loretta Sanchez was born in Lynwood, California, and graduated from Katella High School in Anaheim in 1978.
4.
Loretta Sanchez's father was a unionized machinist, and her mother worked as a secretary.
5.
Loretta Sanchez joined the United Food and Commercial Workers when she worked as an ice cream server in high school and received a union scholarship to college.
6.
Loretta Sanchez received her undergraduate degree in economics from Chapman College in Orange in 1982, obtained her MBA from American University in Washington, DC in 1984, and was a financial analyst for defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton until entering the House.
7.
Loretta Sanchez describes herself as growing up a "shy, quiet girl" who did not speak English.
8.
In February 2006, Loretta Sanchez withdrew from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus's political action committee, along with five 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.
9.
On January 31,2007, Loretta Sanchez quit the CHC because she claimed that Baca repeatedly treated the group's female members with disrespect.
10.
Politico reported that Loretta Sanchez claimed California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez heard the comment from Baca and repeated it to Loretta Sanchez, yet Nunez claimed not to recall any such comment.
11.
Loretta Sanchez claimed after the article was published that she had never mentioned Nunez to Politico.
12.
Loretta Sanchez has stated she is a "moderate" Democrat, but in 2009, Loretta Sanchez had a 'zero' approval rating from the American Conservative Union.
13.
Loretta Sanchez is known for her interests in education, crime, economic development, and protections for senior citizens.
14.
Loretta Sanchez staunchly opposed the Republicans' Head Start program overhaul in the 108th Congress, invoking her experience growing up poor and challenged by a speech impediment.
15.
Loretta Sanchez has asserted that conservative Republicans are not committed to improving public education.
16.
Loretta Sanchez was the second-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, and the most senior woman on that committee.
17.
In early 2011, Loretta Sanchez introduced a bill requiring the United States Department of Homeland Security to issue rules governing searches and seizures of the laptops, cellphones, and other electronic devices of American citizens returning to the US from abroad.
18.
Loretta Sanchez voted against a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and supports abortion rights.
19.
Loretta Sanchez sought to reverse the ban on abortions at overseas military bases and installations.
20.
Loretta Sanchez's address was reinstated just before the convention, when she agreed to relocate her fundraiser to Universal Studios.
21.
Loretta Sanchez's 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.
22.
On October 10,2002, Loretta Sanchez was among the 133 members of the House who voted against authorizing the invasion of Iraq, but she has voted in favor of every appropriation bill for the war in Iraq.
23.
On March 7,2007, Loretta Sanchez led a female congressional delegation to visit troops in Iraq.
24.
Loretta Sanchez has a strong record on supporting human rights and is a member of the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
25.
Loretta Sanchez has stated that she was briefly denied access to a United Airlines flight in October 2006 because her name appeared on a no-fly list set up after the September 11 attacks.
26.
Loretta Sanchez said she was instructed to check in with a United employee, who told her she was on the terrorist watch list.
27.
On September 13,2016, the House Committee on Homeland Security unanimously approved two amendments authored by Loretta Sanchez to strengthen counterterrorism and cybersecurity programs.
28.
In 2009, Loretta Sanchez secured $49.7 million in federal funding for critical water projects in Orange County, including local dam building, water treatment, and conservation projects:.
29.
Loretta Sanchez changed her party affiliation from Republican to Democratic in 1992, ahead of a 1994 campaign for Anaheim City Council.
30.
Loretta Sanchez ran under her married name Loretta Sanchez Brixey, but later dropped her married name because she believed that she and her seven brothers and sisters were better known in the community as the Sanchez family.
31.
In 1996, Loretta Sanchez ran for the US House in California's 46th District against six-term Republican incumbent Bob Dornan.
32.
Loretta Sanchez won by 984 votes, and Dornan contested the election, alleging that many votes were cast by people who were not American citizens.
33.
Loretta Sanchez became the first member of Congress of Mexican heritage to represent Orange County and was re-elected.
34.
Loretta Sanchez's district was made even safer after the 2000 census, when it was renumbered as the 47th District and reconfigured as a Latino-majority district.
35.
Many California Democrats ultimately adopted Loretta Sanchez's position, paving the way for Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante to enter the race.
36.
Loretta Sanchez won against Republican nominee Rosemarie Avila and American Independent Robert Lauten.
37.
Loretta Sanchez considered running for governor and for the United States Senate, but declined to enter the gubernatorial race after former governor Jerry Brown declared his candidacy and deferred to incumbent senator Barbara Boxer, who ran for re-election.
38.
Loretta Sanchez was challenged by Republican nominee Van Tran and independent candidate Ceci Iglesias.
39.
Loretta Sanchez was reelected handily, taking 63.9 percent of the vote.
40.
On May 16,2015, when talking to a group of Indian Americans, Loretta Sanchez made a gesture mocking Native Americans by making a "war cry" that is stereotypically attributed to them.
41.
On May 14,2015, Loretta Sanchez announced her bid for this Senate seat.
42.
Loretta Sanchez competed against Attorney General of California Kamala Harris and thirty two other candidates in California's top-two primary.
43.
On June 7,2016, Loretta Sanchez finished second in the Open Primary and faced fellow Democrat Harris in the general election.
44.
On November 8,2016, Loretta Sanchez lost the US Senate race to Harris.
45.
Loretta Sanchez carried four counties: Fresno, Glenn, Imperial and Madera.
46.
Loretta Sanchez lost her home county, Orange, by seven points.
47.
In January 2017, Loretta Sanchez donated her congressional papers to her alma mater, Chapman University in Orange, California.
48.
Loretta Sanchez has been a trustee and regular lecturer at the university.
49.
In December 2018, Loretta Sanchez announced that she was running for 3rd district Orange County supervisor, in a special election to fill a seat left vacant by Todd Spitzer after his election as the county's new district attorney.
50.
In September 2017, it was announced that Loretta Sanchez would be the executive producer of a new political drama show called Accidental Candidate, which appeared on NBC.
51.
Loretta Sanchez was married for 14 years to stock broker Stephen Brixey before he filed for divorce on January 15,2004.
52.
Loretta Sanchez appears briefly in the HBO documentary film, The Alzheimer's Project: Caregivers.
53.
Loretta Sanchez appeared as herself in the September 10,2007 episode of The Closer entitled "Til Death Do Us Part, Part II".