Think Big, Plan Ahead
Sanchez Taking Steps to Run for Governor or Senate in 2010
Roll Call Staff
Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) continues to give serious consideration to running for governor in 2010, as well as for the Senate, should Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) choose not to seek a fourth term.
In preparation for a statewide run, Sanchez — who has had a gubernatorial campaign account open for several months — plans to spend the next few years traveling up and down California to meet with constituent groups. Given the hefty fundraising
requirements of running statewide in California, Sanchez anticipates her decision would come no later than November 2009.
In a recent interview, Sanchez said she is “absolutely serious” about running for governor in 2010, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) will be termed out of office and the seat will open.
“I wouldn’t discount that, or the Senate seat, if it should open up,” Sanchez said.
The Congresswoman conceded that Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) decision to keep the House in session five days a week will crimp her in-state travel plans somewhat, particularly considering her need to pay close attention to her Orange County district, which preferred President Bush over Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), 50 percent to 49 percent in 2004.
But she is optimistic her increased Congressional workload, which includes responsibilities as the No. 2 Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, will not derail her from laying the groundwork for a statewide run. Sanchez said polling has consistently shown her with the name identification and favorability ratings necessary to launch a campaign in vast, multiple-media market California.
“We’ve been looking for a long time at the statewide level,” Sanchez said. “Polls usually show us to be pretty high in most parts of the state.”
Sanchez’s gubernatorial campaign account, People for Loretta 2010, had only $1,904 on hand as of the last reporting period ending June 30, after contributions of $27,105 and $43,734 in expenditures. But California law allows any federal campaign funds she raises between now and a prospective gubernatorial run to be transferred into her state account.
Because California’s fundraising limits for gubernatorial candidates are $24,100 per primary campaign and $24,100 per general election campaign — for both individual contributors and political action committees — Sanchez would not have to worry about any contribution conflicts if and when she transfers money from her federal account to her state account.
In her post-Nov. 7, 2006, Federal Election Commission report, Sanchez reported banking nearly $650,000 in her Congressional campaign account, after spending $1.86 million on her 24-point victory over stockbroker Tan Nguyen (R).
Some California Democrats have serious questions regarding Sanchez’s ability to win a major statewide contest. To get the backing of major party figures — both donors and political operatives — for either a Senate or gubernatorial run, she would have to do some convincing.
But Sanchez also is seen as having some of the innate qualities that breed success, particularly the fact that she is both a woman and a Latina. Roger Salazar, a Democratic operative based in Sacramento, said women tend to do well when they run statewide, in part because not many of them do.
In last year’s race for secretary of state, then- state Sen. Debra Bowen (D) beat Bruce McPherson, the moderate Republican incumbent who had been appointed to the position by Schwarzenegger, despite the fact that the governor won his re-election handily over then-state Treasurer Phil Angelides (D). Salazar said Bowen’s victory was aided by the fact that she is a woman, which is good news for Sanchez.
“She’s done a fantastic job as a Congresswoman. But whether that translates, I don’t know,” Salazar said. “One luxury we have as Democrats in California is a plethora of talent.”
The Republican bench for gubernatorial and Senate candidates in the Golden State is not seen as very deep.
Steve Poizner, a wealthy moderate Republican who won his race for insurance commissioner over then-Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante (D) — he was the only Republican to win a statewide contest in California last cycle other than Schwarzenegger — has to be seen as an early favorite to run for governor.
On the Democratic side, other than Sanchez, potential candidates for governor include Bowen, state Treasurer and former state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, and Attorney General Jerry Brown, who previously occupied the governor’s office from 1975 to 1983 and served as mayor of Oakland for the past eight years.
Meanwhile, in the 2010 Senate contest, Schwarzenegger himself is the only Republican being speculated about to run for Boxer’s seat regardless of what she does — although most California Republicans believe it is unlikely that he will seek a job in which he would have to share the political stage with 99 other lawmakers.
In addition to being seen as potential gubernatorial candidates, Bowen, Lockyer and Brown could also run for Senate in 2010, although Boxer, who will be 69 that year, could well seek another term. Brown, a three-time presidential contender, unsuccessfully ran for a Senate seat in 1982.
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