Linda Teresa Sánchez (born January 28, 1969) is an American politician and former labor lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for California's 38th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to Congress in 2002 in California's 39th congressional district. 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, where she was an editor of the Chicano-Latino Law Review.
Before her public service career, Sánchez was an attorney specializing in labor law. In 1998, she joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441 and became a compliance officer. From 2000 to 2002, she was executive secretary and treasurer of the Orange County branch of the AFL-CIO.
39th congressional district (2003–2013)
Sánchez started her political career in what was then the 39th district. That district had previously been the 38th, represented by five-term Republican Steve Horn. It already had a modest Democratic lean, but redistricting following the 2000 U.S. census made it even more Democratic, prompting Horn to retire.
Sánchez finished first in a six-person primary for the Democratic nomination in March 2002. She won the primaries with 33.5% of the vote; the second-place candidate, Hector de la Torre, received 29.3%. 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.
She ran unopposed in the Democratic primaries in 2004. She faced Escobar again in the general election, defeating him 60.7% to 39.3%. In the 2006 election, she defeated two primary challengers with 77.8% of the vote and attorney James L. Andion in the general election.
Linda and her sister Loretta became the first pair of sisters to serve together in the U.S. House of Representatives. 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.
41st congressional district (2026–present)
Based on the 2025 California Prop 50, Sánchez filed to run for election in California's 41st congressional district.
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