Doris Matsui vs. Mai Vang: The Bee’s choice in Sacramento’s hottest election | Opinion

When The Bee endorsed Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang over incumbent Doris Matsui this spring in California’s 7th Congressional District, it saw an opportunity for historic change in the Sacramento region. That opportunity has become more urgent as the November election approaches.

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From California to New York, too many longtime Democrats cling to power, promoting their “experience” to voters frustrated with party leaders who lost the White House and Senate and failed to reclaim the House in 2024. Yet many of those leaders do not seem to understand the disconnect between them and Democratic voters

THE BEE’S VOTER GUIDE: Your guide to Sacramento’s 7th District Congressional Race

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi still wants to run San Francisco politics, as one example, rather than gracefully support the next generation. In the United States Senate, Chuck Schumer of New York shows no capacity to evolve with the times.

In Sacramento, Matsui is hanging on. She has favored controlled appearances over debates and largely avoided the hard questions voters deserve to hear answered. When her late husband, Robert, died after serving in Congress for 26 years, she wanted to succeed him. The Democratic Party leadership here cleared the field in 2005, and she has not faced a serious re-election challenge until now.

Vang comes from a working-class background and still carries student-loan debt. Matsui, by contrast, has lent her campaign more than $1 million. For Vang, the income inequality angering so many Americans is not an abstract concern; it is part of her daily life.

An August debate underscored the choice facing voters. Matsui argues that her experience remains an asset, even as her party has grown stagnant. Vang represents a new generation and notes that she is now older than Robert Matsui was when he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1978.

Matsui has sought to portray Vang as out of step with the district’s mainstream, pointing to her attendance record at local government meetings. But this race has become a referendum on Matsui and the diminishing generation of congressional Democrats who do not know when to step aside.

The Bee does not endorse candidates who refuse to meet with its editorial board. Matsui declined to participate in either a public debate with Vang or a private meeting with the board, which typically meets with candidates together in congressional races. When incumbents go years without facing serious re-election challenges, this kind of political isolation can follow.

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Vang cannot lend her campaign millions from personal or family wealth. Nor does she need a cadre of consultants to tell her what to say and do. By Matsui’s own admission during their debate, Vang appears to have studied Matsui’s contributions from pro-Israel donors and ICE supporters more closely than Matsui has.

Matsui has earned a place in Sacramento’s political history as a capable public servant who succeeded her late husband, a local political legend. But after two decades in Congress, retirement at 82 would be a fitting next chapter. Voters now have an opportunity to choose a representative ready to bring new energy and a different approach to serving greater Sacramento in Washington. The Bee endorses Mai Vang for Congress in California’s 7th Congressional District.