Ever since her headline-grabbing upset of conservative Republican icon Rep. Robert K. Dornan back in 1996, Rep. Loretta Sanchez has won reelection in her working-class district by wide margins. But Republicans believe they stand a fighting chance of unseating Orange County's only Democratic member of the House, according to a
latimes.com report.
Republican state Assemblyman Van Tran, who has years of experience in local government and strong ties with the region's up and coming Vietnamese American community, is giving Sanchez her first serious challenge in years.
"That seat has been on the radar screen for Republicans for a long time, but [until now] they've not really had a substantive candidate," said Chip Hanlon, a founder of Red County, a conservative blog about Orange County politics. Republican leaders and campaign donors now "believe this is a winnable fight," Hanlon said.
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