Ethnic Spat Erupts In Changing OC District
SANTA ANA (AP) — The changing face of Orange County helped Democrat Loretta Sanchez win an upset election to Congress 14 years ago as Latinos arrived as a political force.
Now, a rise in Vietnamese-American political clout has her fighting to keep her seat.
Sanchez recently injected the thorny issue of race into the campaign for California's 47th Congressional district when she said in a Spanish-language television interview that "the Vietnamese and Republicans" were trying to take her seat.
Vietnamese-American state Assemblyman Van Tran called the remarks a "racial rampage."
The majority of the district is Hispanic and Democrat. But Latinos have a lower turnout rate than Vietnamese-Americans and Democrats will likely be hurt this year by anti-incumbent sentiment.
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