Sanchez Opponent Distributes Stinky Mailer to Portray Insider Politics

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Something stinks in a Southern California congressional race.
It's a scratch-and-sniff attack ad that portrays Democratic U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez as an insider politician. The ad was mailed by Republican state Assemblyman Van Tran, who is challenging Sanchez for her seat in Orange County.

Tran's campaign manager George Andrews tells the Orange County Register the mailer looks like a perfume ad and features a scratch-and-sniff patch that's supposed to smell like trash.

The ad says: "It's the stench of Washington."

Sanchez's campaign manager, Caroline Hogan, says the congresswoman has been campaigning on issues of importance to local families. And she says the mailer is a gimmick in poor taste.

Sanchez is facing the first serious challenge to her seat since she was elected in 1996.