The Abridged version:
- The race between two Democrats for the 7th Congressional District seat, which covers much of Sacramento and Elk Grove, is heating up for the June 2 primary election.
- Incumbent U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui has been in Congress since 2005 and is encouraging voters to stay the course with her to fight back against the Trump administration.
- Sacramento City Councilwoman Mai Vang says it’s time for the next generation to take over and has accused her opponent of not being aggressive enough against immigration policies.
About two dozen people filled Rick Pratt’s living room in Sacramento’s Land Park neighborhood on a Wednesday night in late April.
The house party theme? Mai Vang and her quest to unseat a longtime member of Congress, fellow Democrat Doris Matsui.
Vang speaks at these campaign house parties six nights a week. She reserves Tuesdays for her time on the City Hall dais as a Sacramento City Council member.
She tells these groups her political origin story and emphasizes her message of change to aggressively take on President Donald Trump’s agenda.
“I feel like I don’t have the luxury of waiting on the sidelines while our democracy is under attack, while so many of our families are struggling to get by,” Vang, 41, said.
Two weeks later and 30 miles away in the eastern reaches of the redrawn 7th Congressional District, Matsui greeted a group of invitees at OBO’ Italian Table & Bar in the El Dorado Hills Town Center.
She promised a steady hand and a commitment to opposing the Trump administration.
“It is a time when we do have a reckless White House,” Matsui, 81, told the group. “We have serious challenges to healthcare and economic development, and what we need now is really experienced leadership.”
A competitive race for central Sacramento
It is the most competitive congressional election in decades for the seat that covers much of Sacramento’s core.
Two Democrats — both women with close connections to local immigrant and refugee communities — are taking vastly different approaches in the race to represent Sacramento in Congress.
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Matsui is seeking her 11th term in Congress, with a message urging Sacramentans to stay the course with an experienced representative.
Vang, on the City Council since 2020, says it’s time for the next generation to take over.
Poll shows Vang and Matsui lead June 2 primary
The results of the June 2 primary election will determine which two candidates go head-to-head in the Nov. 3 general election.
Polling data provided by the Vang campaign indicates that Matsui and Vang are the most likely top two candidates. That’s based on data from Upswing Research and Strategy, which polled 400 likely primary voters between March 17 and 23.
Democrats Robby Morin and Enayat Nazhat and Republicans Ralph Nwobi and Zachariah Wooden also are on the ballot.
After Proposition 50’s redistricting effort redrew congressional lines to give more seats to California Democrats, the District 7 congressional seat now includes much of Sacramento’s central city, Land Park and South Sacramento as well as Elk Grove, El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, Placerville, Galt and Lodi.
The seat is more purple-leaning under the new maps, which shifted it from a 29.7-point margin for Democrats to a 12.7-point advantage, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times.
Vang: ‘This region is ready for change’
From the living room in Land Park, Vang pulled up a folding chair to meet with prospective voters. They talked local issues and national politics alike over small plates filled with cubed cheese, hummus and homemade sandwiches on King’s Hawaiian rolls.
The attendees followed the beats of her story closely, as Vang described her childhood in South Sacramento and how her family of Hmong refugees from Laos struggled with poverty. The room chuckled at a few swings at her opponent and groaned at references to the 2016 election.
She described herself as someone who knows working families because she’s part of one. She promised to focus on affordability, Medicare for all and universal childcare. Vang is also a vocal opponent of the United States conducting war in the Middle East.
“There is another choice on the ballot for the first time in 21 years,” Vang said in an interview with Abridged. “This region is ready for change.”
Matsui: ‘You don’t have to tell me about injustice’
The incumbent has her own origin story — one that started in 1944 at Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona.
“My parents were uprooted and sent to internment camps even though they’re citizens,” Matsui told the El Dorado Hills group. “I was born there. … So you don’t have to tell me about injustice.”
Matsui’s campaign centers on her two-decade career in Congress that includes accomplishments like securing hundreds of millions of dollars for local flood protection and transportation projects.
“What I do, very much so, is make sure that what I’ve learned at home from my constituents and the neighborhoods and apply that as I make policy in Washington,” Matsui said in an interview with Abridged. “I want to deliver, making sure that what I do in Washington impacts people at home in a way that I listened to them and heard from them.”
Candidates trade blows over immigration response
Since August of last year, Matsui has held at least four press conferences outside the John Moss Federal Building to decry federal immigration policies. She garnered headlines after she was refused entry to parts of the federal building where immigrants were being detained and called out the targeting of local Afghan refugees.
Immigration has also been a prominent part of Vang’s platform since her initial campaign announcement.
Vang said she decided to run against Matsui after an August meeting on immigration, which she said took months to secure.
“I said, ‘Congresswoman, what is your position on immigration?’ And she turned to her staff and she said, ‘What is our position on immigration?’” Vang recalled.
Matsui said that meeting story is “a distortion” and said that Vang originally approached her about a pardon for a relative of hers.
“That’s not what happened. It’s not true,” Matsui told Abridged.
Matsui leads in campaign funding race
Filings as of March 31 show that the Matsui campaign has raised about $1.3 million and had just over $1 million in cash on hand as of March 31., fueled by political action committees and several prominent Sacramento figures.
Matsui received contributions from 165 PACs and over 230 individual donors, according to campaign finance records.
The largest contributors, which donated $10,000 each, include PACs representing telecommunications companies like Spectrum, Cox and Cisco. Health interests are also filling Matsui’s war chest, with $10,000 contributions from VSP, the Rancho Cordova-based vision insurance company, and PACs representing hospitals, pharmacists and ophthalmologists.
Matsui also received $10,000 donations from Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s group PAC to the Future, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, America Crystal Sugar Co. and aerospace and energy company Honeywell.
Relatives of Matsui — including her husband, billionaire Roger Sant, her son, daughter-in-law and stepchildren — donated a combined $47,200 to her campaign.
For individual contributions, Matsui has received $7,000 from Kevin Nagle, CEO of the Sacramento Republic FC; $3,500 from Larrey Kelley, founder of LDK Ventures, which is developing Sacramento’s Railyards; and $2,500 from Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council. Sacramento City Councilman Roger Dickinson gave the Matsui campaign $1,000.
Vang campaign includes smaller contributions from more donors
Vang had raised just under $600,000 and had $315,180 on hand as of March 31. She is campaigning on her decision to refuse money from corporate PACs.
Her campaign is predominantly funded by donations from individuals. The campaign has received donations from over 530 people, as of the March 30 filing documents, as well as funds from 11 political action committees.
Those committee dollars include $5,900 from her own fundraising committee, $5,000 from Justice Democrats, $5,000 from the National Union of Healthcare Workers, $5,000 from UAW’s V-Cap program, $5,000 from Working Families Party and $3,000 from National Nurses United.
The largest individual donors to the Vang campaign include $3,500 from Flojaune Cofer, a former Sacramento mayoral candidate who is also running for a seat on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Mohammad Kashmiri, local organizer with Service Employees International Union Local 1000, donated $3,434.
Other notable Sacramento figures who have donated to her campaign include $1,150 from Councilmember Karina Talamantes, and $650 from former Sacramento City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood.
Felicia Alvarez is a reporter at Abridged covering accountability. She’s called Sacramento home since 2015 and has reported on government, health care and breaking news topics for both local and national news outlets.