Jana Sanchez

Sanchez was raised in Ellis County, Texas,[1] where her grandparents, who were migrant farm workers,[2]settled in the 1950s. She graduated from Waxahachie High School in 1982. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Rice University in 1986. At Rice, she co-founded a mentoring program for underprivileged children, was active in Democratic party politics, was a leader in the Mexican American student organization, was a news presenter for KTRU student radio and a journalist for The Rice Thresher.

Sanchez's career includes work as a political fundraiser,[3] campaign manager, journalist and public relations consultant. In the late 1980s, she worked for Democratic elected officials in California, including as Northern California Finance Director for Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy and helped raise campaign funds for California's Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, now a Congressman.

Sanchez has worked as a journalist for The Baltimore Sun and Reuters.[3] In 1993, Sanchez began her journalism career at the Baltimore Sun. [4][5] Sanchez also worked as a journalist in London from 1996 to 2000 as a correspondent at the Reuters news agency in Amsterdam.[6] In 2005, she co-founded CitySavvy, a public relations firm[3] based in London and Amsterdam, which was named "One to Watch" by PR Week in 2007.[7] She ran the agency until 2014, when she returned home to the US, but continued to work for the agency in New York and across the US until 2017 when she quit to run for Congress. She and her partners sold the agency in 2019.[8]

Sanchez is a Senior Advisor at the communications firm Articulate Communications.[9]

In 2018, Sanchez told The Hill that her family history and "anti-immigrant rhetoric" during the 2016 United States presidential election inspired her candidacy.[3] She advocates for immigrant rights[10] and universal affordable healthcare,[11] and expressed opposition to Texas' proposed 'bathroom bill.'[12] Wendy Sachs, writing as a Senior Contributor in Forbes, described Sanchez as the 'unofficial founder' of the Women on Fire group, which connected and supported Texas women candidates after the 2016 election.[13] Sanchez won the May 22, 2018 Democratic primary runoff against Ruby Faye Woolridge.[14]

Sanchez ran as a Democrat against Republican Ron Wright and Libertarian Jason Harber in Texas' 6th District to replace Rep. Joe Barton (R), who was retiring.[3][15] Sanchez was endorsed by The Dallas Morning News,[11] and EMILY's List,[16] and was placed on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's (DCCC) Red-to-Blue Target List.[17] Sanchez told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that "she’s the best candidate because she understands the American Dream, having, as the granddaughter of migrant farm workers, grown up living it."[17] Her campaign was added to the Texas Tribune’s hot list of the most competitive Texas races in 2018.[18]

Republican Ron Wright won the seat.[15]

Sanchez was one of three 2018 candidates featured in the 2020 documentary Surge, along with Liz Watson and Representative Lauren Underwood. Alyssa Milano is the Executive Producer and Wendy Sachs and Hanah Rosensweig directed and produced the movie.[19][20] Roll Call reported that Sachs "said the film intentionally featured women running to flip GOP-held seats," and Rosenweig hoped the film will "help galvanize voters and support women up and down the ballot" in 2020.[21] Sachs told Jewish Insider that "this movement is definitely not a moment… but we need to keep up the work," [...] "We need to continue moving forward, we need to continue the activism on the ground and having women run for office and having women support women running for office."[22]

The documentary has received critical attention from a variety of sources.[23] In a review for The Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik describes a statement by Sanchez in the documentary, "I was so devastated by the election results and so worried about our country," [...] "I didn’t sleep on November 8th, but I sure as hell woke up November 9th. I felt I could do something. I felt I had to do something. I just had to run. I had to do it," as "about as perfect a quote as you can find to show viewers the connection between the election of a man who boasted of sexually assaulting women in an infamous “Access Hollywood” interview and women running for office for the first time."[24] In a review for RobertEbert.com, Nell Minow writes, "All three women are enormously appealing, sincere, informed, passionate, and public-spirited. They are constantly thanking everyone, campaign staff, voters, potential voters. They see running for office as a natural extension of their advocacy work, and they sense a new urgency that creates opportunities."[25] Minow further writes that even though all of the candidates did not win, "their experience shows other women what is possible."[25] Tim Balk writes for the New York Daily News, "[Underwood's] victory and celebration inject a shot of emotional heft and feel-good movie magic to the documentary. But the races of Sanchez and Watson also have the power to jerk tears, and it’s an intimate film sprinkled with little moments: small conversations with prospective voters outside homes, or chats with loved ones about the race. In the end, Sanchez loses but comes closer than any Democrat in 36 years in her Texas district."[26] Sabriya Imami writes for The Michigan Daily, "If “SURGE” reveals anything to audiences, it’s that women aren’t just relevant in politics; they are integral to the foundation of America’s government. “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, and truer words have never been spoken."[27]

Following the 2018 election, Sanchez advised Democratic campaigns for US Congress and Texas State House in Texas during the 2020 cycle. She has managed the campaign of Stephen Daniel,[28] worked as a spokesperson for Texas state house Representative Michelle Beckley,[29] and worked on the campaign of the US Congressional candidate Colonel Kim Olson (USAF, ret.), and others.

Sanchez is a board member of Tarrant Together, described by The Dallas Morning News as "an organization that aims to engage Democratic voters."[1] Sanchez helped form Tarrant Together in 2019. The Tarrant Together Board of Directors includes women who ran for office in Tarrant County in 2018.[30] Sanchez also serves on the board of WomenWin, a PAC that supports women candidates, founded by Col. Olson. She is on the board of Progress Texas, which is a statewide group focused on promoting progressive issues in the media.[31] She also serves on the Dean's Advisory Board for the School of Social Sciences at Rice University.[32]

Sanchez has been cited as a commentator and activist in political news since the 2018 election.[1][33][34][35][36] Her Twitter posts have also been included in articles about politics.[37][38][39][40]

Sanchez is working on a book for first-time women candidates, which she is co-writing with Col. Olson.

Sanchez has been married and divorced twice. She is a lapsed guitar player and songwriter. She is Episcopalian. She lives with her rescue dog JoJo,[41] who is prevalent at Democratic party events and on social media.