Sacramento councilmember Mai Vang weighs running against Rep. Doris Matsui | Opinion
Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang is on a path to running for California’s 7th Congressional District seat, currently held by Doris Matsui.
Vang, who turned 40 in April, would be the first serious candidate that the 80-year-old Matsui has ever faced in the 20 years since Democrats effectively cleared the field for her to run for the seat that had been held by her late husband, Robert Matsui, who died in January 2005.
Vang is expected to formally announce her candidacy in September. She would not comment on the record, but multiple sources have confirmed that she has been taking all the steps typical of a prospective candidate ahead of a campaign launch.
Vang grew up in Sacramento, the daughter of Hmong immigrants from Laos. She was a community organizer and school board member before being elected to the Sacramento City Council in 2020 to represent Meadowview and other south Sacramento neighborhoods in the 8th District. Vang was re-elected in 2024. She ran unopposed.
It’s no coincidence that Matsui would finally be facing a real challenge at a time when establishment Democrats have grown increasingly unpopular. Since losing the White House and both houses of Congress, Democrats have faced criticism. Matsui has been described as unresponsive and unavailable to constituents. In a June interview with The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board, she would not commit to meeting with constituents at a town hall.
Matsui, who would be 82 on election day in 2026, has traveled to Sacramento more frequently in recent weeks for public appearances. Twice, Matsui attempted to visit the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown Sacramento. Both times, she was turned away.
Stylistically, Vang and Matsui could not be more different. Vang has retained the mindset of an organizer. She is accessible and highly visible in her community. She is vocal on progressive issues and she represents a new generation of Sacramento leaders. Matsui is very much an establishment figure in Sacramento. She is well known among insiders and has always won her elections easily because she has done good work and her family name is held in high regard in Sacramento.
A Vang run against Matsui would raise eyebrows because politically, Sacramento is a place where candidates are expected to wait their turn. It’s the kind of place where politicians would tell Vang to her face that they are rooting for her while endorsing Matsui because, well, that’s just the way it’s done here.
The problem with Matsui has not been her age, but her attitude as the Democratic Party is plummeting in its public standing. She behaves like she owns the seat that voters have given her. Going to the front door of Sacramento’s ICE headquarters has been getting her noticed, but its not a substitute for taking live questions from your constituents. Matsui continues to duck her own community except for highly controlled, scripted appearances, has made her vulnerable to a credible challenge.
And then there is this: Twenty years is a long time to represent Sacramento in Congress. With President Donald Trump running roughshod over Democrats, there is a growing appetite for new voices and new energy. Matsui should be mentoring someone like Vang and then stepping aside to let the next generation take the baton. But she thinks she is the only person who can do the job.
She is not. A Vang run would be a brave act and one that challenges Sacramento’s stodgy political culture where people talk a great game privately but maintain the status quo publicly.
Doris Matsui is the status quo in Sacramento and in the Democratic Party. She deserves a strong challenge from a candidate with ambition and energy. Vang represents the future of this city. The voters would have to decide, obviously. But elections are supposed to make a difference. Sacramentans deserve a choice.
This story was originally published August 29, 2025 at 1:45 PM.
