Linda Sánchez

Linda Teresa Sánchez (born January 28, 1969) is an American politician and former labor lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to Congress in 2002 in . Sánchez serves on the Ways and Means Committee; she was the ranking member on the House Ethics Committee until 2017. In the 114th Congress, she chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

In 2016, Sánchez's colleagues elected her vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus for the 115th Congress, the fifth-ranking position in House Democratic leadership, thus becoming the first woman of color elected to a leadership position in the history of the U.S. Congress. She is the younger sister of former U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez; to date, they are the only pair of sisters to have served in Congress.

Early life, education and career

Sánchez was born on January 28, 1969, in Orange, California. She grew up with six siblings, raised by Mexican immigrant parents in Anaheim, where she attended Valencia High School. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish literature with an emphasis in bilingual education at the University of California, Berkeley, and her Juris Doctor degree in 1995 at the UCLA School of Law, From 2000 to 2002, she was executive secretary and treasurer of the Orange County branch of the AFL-CIO. She went on to win the general election against Republican Tim Escobar, 54.9% to 40.8%. This made Sánchez the first woman IBEW member to be elected to Congress. Loretta represented an Orange County district from 1997 until 2017, after she announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate. She finished second in California's "top two" primary, before she was defeated by fellow Democrat, then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris in the 2016 general election.

38th congressional district (2013–2026)

After the 2010 U.S. census, Sánchez's district was renumbered the 38th district. In the upcoming election she faced Republican Ryan Downing.

Electoral history

41st congressional district (2026–present)

Based on the 2025 California Prop 50, Sánchez filed to run for election in California's 41st congressional district.

U.S. House of Representatives

right|thumb|300px|Congresswoman Sánchez participates in Long Beach's Veterans Day celebration.

Committee assignments

For the 119th Congress:

Committee on Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Health
Subcommittee on Trade (Ranking Member)

Party leadership and caucus memberships

House Democratic Party Steering and Policy Committee
Co-founder of the Labor and Working Families Caucus
International Conservation Caucus
Congressional Arts Caucus
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Congressional Coalition on Adoption
Congressional Taiwan Caucus
United States–China Working Group

Sánchez is a member of the Committee on Ethics and the United States House Committee on Ways and Means. In 2005, she was appointed Assistant Minority Whip. She is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and co-chairs the Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus, which she co-founded. She is also a vice chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

Political positions

Sanchez voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

Abortion

Sánchez is pro-choice and has voted against repealing federal funding for abortions. She opposed legislation to bar transporting minors between states for abortions and making it a crime to harm a fetus in another crime.

Sánchez "supported the interests of the National Right to Life Committee 0 percent in 2010."
On October 13, 2011, Sánchez "strongly opposed" the Protect Life Act (H.R. 358).
Sánchez supported the interests of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Sánchez has voted against many anti-abortion bills, such as the Abortion Pain Bill, prohibiting federally funded abortion services, prohibiting taxpayer funding of abortion, and the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act.

Budget and economy

Sánchez voted against spending prioritizing in the event the debt limit is reached. In 2009, she supported a $192 billion anti-recession stimulus package, an $825 billion bailout fund,

In a February 9, 2010, letter to President Barack Obama, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Charles Schumer, Sánchez wrote: "Currently, U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents may sponsor their spouses (and other immediate family members) for immigration purposes. But same-sex partners committed to spending their lives together are not recognized as 'families' under U.S. immigration law and thus do not have this same right. [...] This is unacceptable, and we believe comprehensive immigration reform legislation must include a strong family reunification component inclusive of LGBT families."

Drug policy

Sánchez supports drug reform and allowing people with drug-related convictions to receive student loans if they are deemed to be rehabilitated. Bush reversed the suspension on October 26, 2005.

Gun control

Sánchez supports gun control and believes in background checks, no fly-no buy, and gun violence research. She seeks to close the gun show loophole for firearm sales. She believes gun manufacturers and sellers are accountable and ought to be liable for misuse cases by users.

Immigration

After the Arizona state legislature passed State Senate Bill 1070 and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed it into law, Sánchez claimed that the law, and similar laws throughout the country, were the product of white supremacists: "There's a concerted effort behind promoting these kinds of laws on a state-by-state basis by people who have ties to white supremacy groups. It's been documented. It's not mainstream politics." Representative Gary Miller called Sánchez's comments "an outrageous accusation." Steve Poizner also condemned them.

Technology

Twice in 2009, Sánchez introduced the "Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act," H.R. 1966, a bill that would criminalize the use of electronic communications if "the intent is to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person." The bill is a response to the suicide of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl whose 2006 suicide was attributed to cyberbullying on the social networking site MySpace. The bill has drawn criticism from members of the online community, legal scholars, and others who contend that it would infringe on the constitutional right to freedom of speech.

Tax reform

Sánchez supports a progressive tax system and voted against maintaining reduced tax rates for capital gains and dividends. She was rated a "Big Spender" by NTU, indicating she generally supports higher tax rates. The marriage is Sánchez's second, and Sullivan has three sons from a previous marriage. On May 13, 2009, she became the eighth woman to give birth while serving in Congress.

Sánchez's father, Ignacio, died in 2018 after years of battling Alzheimer's disease. Sánchez has cited this experience as her motivation for finding a cure for the disease.

Sánchez is the younger sister of former Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. They are the first and to date only sister pair to serve in Congress.

Sánchez delivered the Spanish version of the Democratic Radio Address on May 6, 2006.

Works

Linda Sánchez, Loretta Sánchez and Richard Buskin, Dream in Color: How the Sánchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress, Grand Central Publishing (September 2, 2008) , foreword by Nancy Pelosi

In 2008, Loretta and Linda Sánchez published the joint memoir Dream in Color: How the Sánchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress. Publishers Weekly reviewed the book and wrote: "Linda and Loretta Sánchez present their compelling story—noteworthy not only for their history-making achievements (including first sisters or women of any relation to serve together in Congress, first woman and person of color to represent a district in Orange County, first Latina on the House Judiciary Committee and first Head Start child to be elected to Congress) but also for its 'American Dream' aspect—their parents immigrated from Mexico and despite lacking a formal education managed to send their seven children to college. Interweaving childhood vignettes with accounts of serving in Congress, both from California, this refreshing book evades many of the tropes of the typical political memoir—perhaps because these two women are not typical politicians."

References

External links

Congresswoman Linda Sanchez official U.S. House website
Linda Sanchez for Congress campaign website