Former Rep. Loretta Sanchez to executive produce political drama 'Accidental Candidate' for NBC
Former Rep. Loretta Sanchez is coming to Hollywood — only this time, instead of asking for money, it looks as if she's aiming to make some.
Sanchez, a Democrat who represented Orange County for 20 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, is named as an executive producer on a political drama that just got a script commitment from NBC, the Los Angeles Times has confirmed.
"Accidental Candidate" will follow a small-town mom who gets thrust into the spotlight after a confrontation with a politician at a town hall meeting and impulsively decides to run for Congress as "the ultimate outsider against a powerful male incumbent," according to the show's logline.
If that sounds at all familiar, it's because the early years of Sanchez's political career had her upsetting Rep. Bob Dornan, a six-term Republican incumbent, in a brutal battle for Orange County's 46th District.
"Nashville" showrunner Dee Johnson is on board as an executive producer and writer. Josh Berman of Osprey Productions and Chris King are also EPs.
The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report the script sale Friday.
After the 57-year-old former congresswoman went all-in on a 2016 Senate bid and lost her next move was unclear. Not anymore.
“Although we don’t know what our future will be," Sanchez said in a Nov. 9 speech conceding victory in the Senate race to Kamala Harris, "I can tell you that this is not the last that people will see of me."
At the very least, there's a chance her supporters will be seeing her name, and a version of her life story, on TV.
Updated, 12:20 p.m: This story was updated with confirmation of the script sale and additional information on the project.