By admin 
Rep. Doris Matsui appears absolutely incapable of understanding that her time in Congress is at an end.
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Matsui, who has held the seat for 20 years — and whose first husband, Robert Matsui, held the seat for nearly two decades before that — gave a petulant performance at Thursday’s candidate debate at the Coloma Center in East Sacramento while her challenger, Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang, easily walked away with the victory.
Sponsored by the League of Women Voters and multiple neighborhood associations, Thursday’s debate might be the only opportunity for voters to get a side-by-side comparison of the two candidates running for Sacramento’s newly redrawn 7th Congressional thanks to Matsui’s habitual unwillingness to appear in public debate. The Coloma Community Center in Sacramento’s Elmhurst neighborhood was packed, befitting what is arguably the most interesting race in the region right now.
The overwhelming public interest was no doubt partly due to the novelty: The Matsui campaign has (understandably) been loath to agree to any one-on-one appearances where the 81-year-old incumbent might be directly compared to her 41-year-old challenger.
Vang pressed Matsui over campaign contributions from contractors with links to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and over the millions in donations she’s received from corporate political action committees. Matsui’s only answers to these questions were eye rolls, as though it was ridiculous for anyone to worry that she might owe a debt to those who contribute large sums to her campaign.
Meanwhile, Matsui’s strongest argument for her re-election is that Vang would be a freshman in Congress, if elected.
She’s not entirely wrong: Congress’ power structure relies heavily on seniority, which Matsui now has. Matsui serves as a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; as a ranking member of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology; and as a member of the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate and Grid Security. Any committee assignments Vang would be assigned to would necessitate her starting from the bottom.
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But that’s a cause and effect of the system of government our representatives serve under, not indicative of Vang’s experience or capability. It’s odd that Matsui would make it her main line of defense when it’s a hurdle every new member of Congress faces.
And, as Vang pointed out, when Democrats controlled the White House and Congress between the two Trump administrations, Matsui could have (and should have) used her seniority to effect change, before voters ultimately reelected Trump and handed majorities to Republicans in both houses of Congress.
“If seniority could have saved us, we wouldn’t be here now,” Vang said. “This is about the type of experience we want. Do we want the status quo, or do we want someone who will go in and work?”
In truth, the bitter fight for California’s 7th Congressional district has become a microcosm of the tensions within the larger, national Democratic Party: Young, progressive candidates like Vang are pressuring the generation of old-guard centrists like Matsui to answer for the current state of our nation and our politics. Young voters believe our nation has arrived at an unbearable crossroads, in part, because senior Democrats failed us.
Matsui alone is not to blame for all the complaints Americans have with the Democratic Party, but she is a symptom of the malaise within the party that made the second Trump administration possible. Now, we are at war in Iran. Infectious diseases that were once contained are spreading, and our government is rife with corruption. Matsui wants to rest on her laurels while our democracy is in chaos.
Now is not the time for rest. Two decades is enough. Sacramento deserves a change, and Vang is a smart, capable, and willing replacement.
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This story was originally published August 28, 2026 at 11:05 AM.