Congress won't be the same without Rep. Bob Dornan, the bare-knuckled conservative who once grabbed a congressional colleague by the necktie and called him a draft-dodging wimp.
But for many in Dornan's Orange County district and others outside it, "B-1 Bob" Dornan's departure was long overdue. His attacks on gays, communists, abortion-rights advocates and liberals made him a favorite target of those groups.He was toppled from office after nine terms by Republican-turned-Democrat Loretta Sanchez, a financial adviser who had never before won political office, new vote totals showed Thursday.
Dornan, who made a brief presidential run this year, trailed by an insurmountable 665 votes with 1,300 to be counted. No officials called the race, but Dornan would have to win 983 of those ballots, or 75.6 percent. Dornan claimed voter fraud would cost him the election.
In the race for the 46th Congressional District, Dornan seemed to sharpen his attacks, saying Sanchez had "dumped her Catholic teaching on abortion and homosexuality." The Irish-American Dornan is also Catholic.
Even some Dornan supporters said he had gone over the edge with a verbal assault this week on a local Republican who had endorsed Sanchez.
Dornan called William Dougherty a "slimy coward" and shouted: "You are a disgrace to your baptism! You are a poor excuse for a Marine. You are a pathetic, old, senile man."
Several Republican leaders declined to comment until all ballots were counted. Dornan, who said he believes the results will be thrown out, contends that noncitizens voted and that ballot boxes were not securely transported.
He has said he wants the secretary of state's office to investigate but has not yet made a formal request.
Sanchez, 36, said the claims were anti-Hispanic and insulting to "the will of the people." At least half of the district's residents are Hispanic.
Sanchez, who founded a financial advisement company in 1992, Amiga Advisers Inc., is the first woman and first Hispanic to represent the district.
Dornan, 63, was elected to the House in 1976 and was re-elected to two terms to represent coastal Los Angeles County. He "retired" in 1982 and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.
In 1984, he was elected to the House again, this time in his current district, and has been re-elected five times since.
He earned the nickname "B-1 Bob" in Congress for his unrelenting support of the bomber manufactured in California. Dornan was an Air Force fighter pilot during peacetime in the 1950s was also a civilian combat photographer in Vietnam.
When Republicans gained control of Congress in 1994, Dornan became chairman of subcommittees on military personnel, and technical and tactical intelligence.
Dornan lost speaking privileges for a day last year when, in reaction to President Clinton's State of the Union address, he said, "I believe the president did give aid and comfort to the enemy, Hanoi" during the Vietnam War.
Sanchez turned Dornan's taste for national and international affairs against him, charging that he had neglected the district. By contrast she stressed such hometown issues as education and jobs.
Sanchez's win means the GOP have won 226 House seats and the Democrats 205 seats.