A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected in 1996, when she defeated long-serving Republican U.S. Representative Bob Dornan by fewer than 1,000 votes.

[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.

[7] In February 2006, 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, Sanchez quit the CHC because she claimed that Baca repeatedly treated the group's female members with disrespect.

[18] 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.

As a result, she led the fight to change sexual assault provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

[citation needed] In early 2011, 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 U.S. from abroad.

Her 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] In honor of International Human Rights Day, she joined a bipartisan group of 11 House Members that issued a letter to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung calling for the release of two U.S. citizens arrested by the government of Vietnam.

[27] 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.

[29] Sanchez's comments, which came on the heels of both the recent Islamist terror attack in San Bernardino and 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's call to temporarily ban Muslim immigration to the United States, were criticized as contributing to Anti-Muslim sentiment.

Sanchez explained that she was merely echoing President Obama's remarks in his December 6, 2015 Oval Office Address wherein he stated: "Extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities.

[30] On September 13, 2016, the House Committee on Homeland Security unanimously approved two amendments authored by Sanchez to strengthen counterterrorism and cybersecurity programs.

5859, "establishes a grant program to help major metropolitan areas prepare for and respond to terror attacks that include active shooters.

"[31] Sanchez's amendment requires that "unclassified threat information" be provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to grant applicants.

"[31] Sanchez's new amendment will increase the use of DHS grants in focusing on identifying threats and improving "cybersecurity sharing dissemination.

$2.870,000 for the Upper Newport Bay Ecosystem Restoration – Funding for this initiative helped manage sedimentation in the Upper Newport Bay by increasing the capacity of sediment basins, restoring and enhancing estuarine habitats, and improving educational and recreational opportunities.

[34] $426,000 for the Westminster-East Garden Grove Watershed Study in Santa Ana to help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertake a comprehensive study of the Westminster Watershed, to develop a rehabilitation plan for flood control, ecosystem restoration, recreation, and water quality solutions, including the East Garden Grove-Wintersburg Channel and the Bolsa Chica Flood Control Channel.

This study helped bolster flood control efforts currently in place, and assisted with ecosystem restoration and overall water quality standards.

Both projects were consistent with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' flood control and environmental restoration missions in Southern California.

$860,000 for the Westminster/East Garden Grove Watershed Study – Funding helped the Army Corps of Engineers continue its comprehensive study of the Westminster Watershed $546,000 for the Surfside-Sunset and Newport Beaches – Funding helped mitigate damage along 17 miles of the Orange County coastline that was caused by the construction of federal navigation and flood control works in Long Beach and Anaheim Bay.

Sanchez changed her party affiliation from Republican to Democratic in 1992, ahead of a 1994 campaign for Anaheim City Council.

The bitterly fought race saw Sanchez charge that Dornan was out of touch with his constituency, especially after a distracting run for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination.

Many California Democrats ultimately adopted Sanchez's position, paving the way for Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante to enter the race.

[45] In September 2010, Loretta Sanchez appeared on the Spanish language network, Univisión and said that "the Vietnamese and the Republicans are – with an intensity – trying to take away 'our' seat", referring to her Vietnamese-born opponent, Van Tran.

Sanchez's chief of staff, Adrienne Elrod, remarked that "Kinde was someone whose services and counsel we trusted for many years.

[64] In September 2017, it was announced that Sanchez would be the executive producer of a new political drama show called Accidental Candidate, which appeared on NBC.

[69][70] In November 2010, Roll Call and the Orange County Register reported Loretta's engagement to retired Army Colonel Jack Einwechter.

[72][73] Loretta's father, Ignacio ("Nacho"), suffered from Alzheimer's disease since 2001, eventually causing his death in 2018.

Within the fictional narrative of the show, she was briefly seen on the program Larry King Live being interviewed about a criminal legal case.