I know this isn't nearly as clever as Stephen Colbert's clever "Better Know A District" segments, nor will there be a video interview with our representative, Loretta Sanchez, but here goes.California's 47th Congressional District is located in north Orange County and includes the cities of Garden Grove and Santa Ana as well as parts of Fullerton and Anaheim, including Disneyland. As Congressional districts go, it's fairly compact and not too oddly shaped.
According to Wikipedia, the district covers 55 square miles and is 100% urban, not unusual for Southern California. That was probably not always the case, but we have now lost almost all of our agricultural land in this part of the state. The population of the district is 639,087 with ethnic makeup listed as 17.8% White, 1.5% Black, 13.9% Asian, 65.3% Hispanic, 0.3% Native American, and 0.1% other. Median income for the district is $41,618. The 47th the only district in the county that's fairly well-balanced between Republicans and Democrats. Loretta Sanchez has been our rep since 1996, but before that we had Republican Robert Dornan. (I will say no more on that subject except that I'm glad he's gone.) Loretta is unique in that she is one of two sisters in Congress. Her sister Linda, another Democrat, represents a district in Los Angeles County. During the primary, they each chose a different candidate to support. Loretta stumped for Hillary Clinton while Linda campaigned for Barack Obama.
I've been to Congresswoman Sanchez's website recently to see what's going on re money for the district in the economic stimulus package. Lately I've seen too many people prowling through garbage cans looking for bottles and cans to recycle. Given the times we live in, I think it's good if we all start paying more attention to our elected representatives.
Linda
My Town Monday is the brilliant brain child of writer/blogger Travis Erwin. Thanks, Travis! Go to his blog to read his latest post and find links to the other participants.
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