Sanchez Takes Her Seat With Not Much Ado

WASHINGTON — Democrat Loretta Sanchez, the daughter of immigrants and a political novice who took on an Orange County institution and won, was sworn in Tuesday as the county’s first woman and first Latino member of Congress.

Even as she and other members of the 105th Congress prepared to take the oath of office, however, Sanchez was reminded that defeated nine-term Republican Robert K. Dornan of Garden Grove had not given up the crusade to regain his seat.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), perhaps Dornan’s closest friend on Capitol Hill, asked House Speaker Newt Gingrich to officially acknowledge that Dornan is contesting Sanchez’s 984-vote victory.

Sanchez stood quietly as fellow newcomer Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Pleasanton) wrapped an arm around her and Gingrich made the public acknowledgment that Dornan asked the House Oversight Committee to call for a new election.

But there were no other efforts to keep Sanchez from assuming her legislative duties after Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) noted that the state of California had “duly certified” Sanchez’s victory over Dornan.

With this slightly rough start, on what was also her 37th birthday, Sanchez became the representative from California’s 46th Congressional District. She is the first Democrat in Congress to serve Orange County in 12 years, since Dornan defeated incumbent Jerry Patterson in 1984.

“It’s a big day because it proves that a person born and raised in Orange County can run and get elected,” said Democrat Lou Correa, who lost November’s 69th Assembly District race by 93 votes. “It’s going to open up the county to new, fresh ideas, because you no longer have to assume that one party will be controlling politics. That’s very healthy.”

Correa also noted that despite the attention paid to the emerging Latino vote, Latinos accounted for only 20% of the electorate in the 46th District. “[Sanchez] went beyond the ethnic racial issue and was able to get people to vote for her because of her message,” he said.

From the day Sanchez’s victory was announced following a count of absentee ballots, Dornan has charged the election was marred by voter fraud. He requested and paid for a recount, which found no evidence of widespread irregularities.

However, the district attorney’s office is investigating possible vote fraud in that election. And some voters told The Times in interviews that they had not been sworn in as citizens before casting ballots.

Dornan’s charges of fraud include allegations of voting by noncitizens.

“I’m not worried about it,” Sanchez said after the swearing-in ceremony Tuesday. “I know I have won. I have won by a large margin. The election will not be invalidated.”

The brief episode on the House floor was not as bad as it could have been, she added.

For days, rumors had circulated that some GOP members might try to keep her from getting seated, or at least have her sworn in on a “provisional” basis until Dornan’s claims of voter fraud could be heard.

“The fact of the matter is, there was not a lot of support to do that,” even among Republicans, Sanchez said.

Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) said most members thought it was only fair to let Sanchez take office at this time. “We felt that when the state issued a certification of her election, that precedents of the House in the past indicated we should seat her” pending the House probe, he said.

But Hunter said it was important to “lay a marker down” and that Dornan’s charges warrant “serious attention.”

Hunter and Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-San Diego) have been in constant contact with Dornan, who returned to Washington on Tuesday.

“He’s upbeat,” Cunningham said of Dornan. “Many of us believe he has justification in asking for the hearings.”

But on the Democratic side, the parliamentary move was viewed as political gamesmanship.

“It was not necessary to mention it,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles). “I think they just wanted to raise the issue publicly to say they have not given up the fight.”

At Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana, which Sanchez visited occasionally during her campaign, student body president Zoe Urrutia said she hoped Sanchez’s appointment to the education committee would help the college.

“It’s refreshing to know that the Latino community is making it to such a high-ranking position in the U.S. government, and of course, even more refreshing to know that it’s a woman,” she said. “With her in the Congress, maybe women can be expected to do more now, especially Latino women.”

The Dornan-Sanchez political squabble was preceded by Gingrich’s own struggle for survival. By a narrow margin, the returning Republican majority voted to keep Gingrich as speaker despite defections by a few who viewed him as “ethically damaged.”

Though Orange County’s five Republican members stoically defended Gingrich, the mood was subdued compared to two years ago when the GOP took control of the House for the first time in four decades.

On the day the 104th Congress was sworn in two years ago, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) thrust both thumbs up in the air as Gingrich ascended to the speaker’s podium, and Dornan twice made the sign of the cross, as if he were delivering his blessing on the new speaker.

The novelty of controlling Congress has worn off, conceded Packard, who never wavered in his support of Gingrich, whom he calls a “visionary.”

“Two years ago we were excited because it was an absolute sea change,” Packard said. “Now we have settled into a much more mature approach to our majority, and I frankly believe this whole two-year period is going to be a much more mature approach to the agenda that we have already started.”