Ex-SCUSD president files — plans to rescind — Vang corporate donations complaint
A former Sacramento City Unified School District president filed — and now plans to rescind — an ethics complaint against city Councilmember Mai Vang, alleging she may not have contributed corporate donations towards a scholarship fund as she recently claimed.
Jay Hansen filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission Thursday naming Vang, a progressive who first joined the city council in 2020 and who is now challenging Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, in next week’s primary.
Vang told The Sacramento Bee last week that she had directed about $10,000 from small businesses, PG&E and local casinos from her 2020 and 2024 council campaigns to the Heart and Hustle Scholarship, a fund for low-income students run through her city council 8th District office.
The Bee reviewed Vang’s local filings dating back to her initial election in 2020, which showed that her campaign donated $9,000 between 2023 and 2025 to Sacramento nonprofit Gifts To Share, which allows people to earmark donations to the Heart and Hustle Scholarship via its website.
Vang said all campaign contributions were properly recorded. In a statement, she claimed Hansen was acting on Matsui’s behalf, and resorting to the “most cynical of tactics” by targeting a fund for low-income students in an “act of desperation” days before the primary.
Hansen, who is now the president of a San Francisco environmental think tank, said he initially supported Vang in her run for school board. The two served together on the board from 2016 to 2018; it’s unclear if he has any connection to Matsui beyond supporting her reelection.
“I worked with (Vang) and was disappointed with her inability to make decisions and move us forward. She quickly ran for council and couldn’t wait to leave the hard work behind,” Hansen said in a text message. “She has not helped the city make progress either and spends her time on performative stunts instead of legislating. And now she wants an even bigger seat?”
Hansen asked the FPPC to open an investigation and determine whether Vang violated the state Political Reform Act, which could carry fines. After The Bee found the record of her donations in Vang’s campaign finance reporting, Hansen said he would be withdrawing the complaint.
“She’s still a dud, but I want to be accurate and accountable,” Hansen said.
Hansen and Vang were on opposing sides of a 2024 controversy over former school board candidate RoLanda Wilkins. Wilkins made offensive comments about Latino immigrants and called for violence against politicians like Kamala Harris, calling them “fake Black leaders” who should be “killed.”
Vang rescinded her support after Facebook videos surfaced of Wilkins making those remarks; Hansen said he would continue to support Wilkins, calling her “the best candidate for the job.”
Vang, 40, has launched the most serious Democratic campaign in recent years to unseat Matsui, 81. Matsui first won her 7th congressional district seat in 2005, succeeding her late husband former Rep. Robert Matsui. A recent survey showed Vang polling slightly behind Matsui, at 22% and 24%, respectively.
Vang has backing from progressives ranging from the local Working Families Party to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. She has staked her potential victory on capitalizing upon voters’ disillusionment with entrenched incumbents and has repeatedly said she will not take money from corporate political action committees.
“After 20 years in Congress, this is what her campaign has been reduced to: Not a record to run on, not a vision for Sacramento, not a plan to protect working families, but a frivolous attack on students trying to build a better life,” Vang said. “We built this fund to open doors for young people who’ve had them closed their whole lives, and no amount of political gamesmanship will stop us from fighting for them.”
