From FireDogLake.com:
Sanchez voted “yes” last time. She faces a well-funded GOP challenger, Van Tran, in the 2010 election. Although Obama carried her district by 60%, Schwarzenegger won it in 2006 as did Bush in 2004. It has a growing Vietnamese community, which Tran hopes to capitalize on. “They come out and vote in large numbers, and they’re 2-to-1 Republican,” he told the Associated Press.
This makes Nancy Pelosi’s job considerably harder. Sanchez’s jump could be a sign that there are members who have been quiet about their positions and hoping they’d never have to take the vote. But with the fear of tough elections ahead looming large, more could follow her lead. I know there’s a tendency to look at these votes as carved in stone once members commit publicly, but I fully remember what happened to Ciro Rodriguez during the Cap and Trade vote:
“Sanchez voted “yes” last time. She faces a well-funded GOP challenger, Van Tran, in the 2010 election. Although Obama carried her district by 60%, Schwarzenegger won it in 2006 as did Bush in 2004. It has a growing Vietnamese community, which Tran hopes to capitalize on. “They come out and vote in large numbers, and they’re 2-to-1 Republican,” he told the Associated Press.”
I live in a nearby district and this makes total sense to me. While the overall county is conservative, she was elected thanks to votes of illegal aliens in the district (I actually read depositions in that case years ago, and there’s no doubt). If the demographics are switching to Vietnamese she may well have trouble keeping the seat.