Loretta Sanchez to launch Calif. Senate bid: reports

by Jesse Byrnes - 05/12/15 7:13 PM ET

California Rep. Loretta Sanchez will announce her bid Thursday to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer, a fellow Democrat, according to multiple reports.

Sanchez will announce her bid during a press conference at the Santa Ana Train Station, flanked by her husband, family and friends, according to The Sacramento Bee.

“Together we will win,” Sanchez wrote in an email to supporters, according to the Bee.

But Sanchez told a Los Angeles Times reporter the email was leaked unintentionally. “I have actually not made a decision. That is the truth,” she said, according to the reporter.

{mosads}The entrance of Sanchez sets up an intra-party fight with California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D), considered a heavy favorite to succeed Boxer in the state.

Harris is among Democrats expected at the state’s annual convention, which starts Friday in Anaheim, in the district Sanchez represents. Sanchez entered Congress in 1997.

Earlier Tuesday, fellow California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff announced he had ruled out a Senate bid, the second potential Harris challenger to remove his name from speculation.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat, has also removed his name from contention, while Democratic Reps. Xavier Becerra and Jackie Speier are also weighing bids.

Schiff praised California’s other long-time senator, Dianne Feinstein (D), telling ABC News he hoped she runs again when up for reelection in 2018, when she will be 85.

Sanchez is the second-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee and has also served on the House Homeland Security Committee following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

A spokesperson for Sanchez did not immediately return a request for comment.

– Updated at 7:21 p.m.

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