As a Hispanic woman Democrat, Sanchez ran a bitterly contested campaign for the post of Representative in the 46th Congressional District of California in 1996 against the longtime incumbent, white conservative Republican Bob Dornan[?]. She won the election by a narrow margin of 984 votes, which Dornan contested. The result stood, and Sanchez was firmly re-elected to two additional terms in 1998 and 2000.
In November 2002, Sanchez was elected as Representative for the 47th Congressional District of California; in the same election, her sister Linda was elected as Representative for the 39th Congressional District. Loretta and Linda Sanchez are the first pair of sisters to serve simultaneously in the United States Congress.
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