Sánchez, Linda, 1969-

Linda Teresa Sánchez (born January 28, 1969) is an American politician and former labor lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served as the U.S. Representative from California's 39th and 38th congressional districts since 2003. In 2016, she was elected by her colleagues to serve as Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus for the 115th Congress, the fifth-ranking position in House Democratic leadership. She is the first woman of color ever to be elected to a leadership position in the history of the U.S. Congress.

Born in Orange, California and raised in Anaheim, she attended Valencia High School before earning a B.A. in Spanish from the University of California, Berkeley. After working her way through school as a bilingual aide and an ESL instructor, she went on to earn a law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1995. Sánchez worked as an attorney practicing appellate law, civil rights, and employment law. After the 1998 election, Sánchez worked for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441 and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) as a compliance officer on public works and prevailing wage issues. In 2000, she was elected executive director of the Orange County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. In 2002, she joined her older sister, Loretta, in the House of Representatives, the first time two sisters had served together in the chamber.

Throughout her time in Congress, Sánchez has been a steadfast advocate for working people, including improving school safety; enabling more women, minorities, and veterans to establish small businesses; reforming the tax code to provide relief for long-term caregivers; bringing scrutiny to the misuse of arbitration that unfairly harms workers; and keeping families in their homes through changes to bankruptcy law. She has been a staunch advocate for Alzheimer’s beneficiary and caregiver support, having lost her father and watching her mother suffer from the disease. Sánchez currently serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, where she advocates for the protection of Social Security and Medicare, fairness for U.S. workers and businesses in trade agreements, and an even playing field for the middle class through tax code reform.