Loretta Sanchez

Loretta Lorna Sanchez born January 7 1960 is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1997 to 2017 representing parts of central Orange County California A member of the Democratic Party she was first elected in 1996 when she defeated longserving Republican US Representative Bob Dornan by fewer than 1000 votes During her time in the House of Representatives Sanchez was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition of moderatetoconservative Democrats Sanchez chose not to run for reelection to the House in 2016 instead opting to run in the states US Senate race She was defeated in the general election by fellow Democrat California Attorney General and future US Vice President Kamala Harris 616 to 384 She is the sister of Linda Sánchez who currently represents Californias 38th congressional district in the US House of Representatives