By admin 
A new campaign ad from Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, features two local politicians calling for Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang’s firing, adding to an already contentious congressional race between the two Democrats.
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The advertisement, which was released last week, attacks Vang over her attendance record at the meetings of local government bodies including the Sacramento Regional Transit District and Sacramento Transportation Authority. City council members are appointed each year to serve on the boards of various committees, regional authorities and agencies.
Among those featured in the ad are a local union representative, Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove, a restaurant owner and Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, all of whom close with a blunt message: Vang should be fired, “not promoted.”
The line is a direct jab at Vang’s bid to unseat Matsui in the Sacramento region’s 7th Congressional District.
Vang, 41, joined a broader wave of younger progressive candidates seeking to oust longtime Democratic incumbents across the country. She has centered her campaign on generational change, progressive policies and a focus on working-class families.
Matsui, 82, has served in Congress since 2005, when she took over the seat following the death of her husband. She has routinely highlighted her experience and pointed to her record of delivering federal resources to the Sacramento region.
The two Democrats have traded critiques throughout the campaign. But Matsui’s ad is one of the most direct and personal shots yet. In the days since its release, Vang’s backers — including current and former Sacramento city council members — have criticized the ad as false and misleading.
“This is the first time that I see that, so it just caught me by surprise,” said City Councilmember Karina Talamantes, who is backing Vang. “It’s normal to support other candidates or to give money for other candidates, to host fundraisers, to be part of the mailers. That’s normal in the political world that we live in. But I just have never seen someone go negative on a TV ad against another elected official, especially all of us being women of color.”
Singh-Allen and Nguyen, D-Elk Grove, did not respond to requests for comment.
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What does the ad say and is it accurate?
The 30-second advertisement makes three specific claims about Vang’s attendance record at three local government boards in the last two years.
Claim 1: “She missed nearly half the meetings of the Regional Transit Board.”
Reality: The statement is referring to Vang’s attendance at the Sacramento Regional Transit District board meetings in 2024. She attended seven of the 12 monthly meetings that year, according to recordings of the meetings. None of her absences affected quorum at the meetings.
Claim 2: “Missed nearly half of Air Quality.”
Reality: This statement is about Vang missing board meetings for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District between January 2024 and 2026. She attended 11 of the 19 board meetings in that timeframe, according to recordings of the meetings.
Claim 3: “They replaced her on the Transportation Authority after she missed four in a row.”
Reality: Vang serves on the Sacramento Transportation Authority after an appointment earlier this year.
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She missed four straight meetings between November 2023 to March 2024. In April 2024, following the interim appointment of then-Councilmember Shoun Thao, the Sacramento City Council voted to assign him some seats on local government boards.
Vang’s seat on the Sacramento Transportation Authority, along with seats held by Council members Lisa Kaplan and Talamantes, were given to Thao. City staff described the action as consistent with council rules when “circumstances require a new or replacement appointee.”
Roger Salazar, Matsui campaign senior adviser, pushed back on if Vang’s reshuffling on the Sacramento Transportation Authority in 2024 was routine.
“The facts are that she was replaced after four consecutive absences from the transit authority. Those are the facts,” Salazar said. “The staff report does not call it ‘routine’ and cannot be interpreted as such.”
Nairka Treviño Müller, Vang’s campaign manager, reiterated that the councilmember is on the transportation authority board and “those are the facts.”
“Our campaign has momentum, voters are asking for a new generation of leaders,” Treviño Müller said. “Congresswoman Matsui can’t stand on her record and her campaign is desperately grasping at straws.”
How do appointments work? Is it common to miss meetings?
Appointments to these boards generally happen in the beginning of each calendar year and are at the discretion of the Sacramento mayor who weighs councilmember preferences and workload.
“It’s not a science,” said former Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who declined to comment on the ad, but has endorsed Matsui. “It’s a combination of balancing workload and trying to meet the priorities of the members.”
At the start 2024, Vang was assigned to 16 boards, commissions and committees — the most of any person on the City Council that year. Some of her assignments were given to Thao later that year after he took over for former Sacramento Councilmember Sean Loloee.
This year, Vang is assigned to 10 boards.
Vang’s backers, including Talamantes, have argued it is common for elected officials to miss some board meetings because they are appointed to several each year. Some local agencies or government bodies can hold their meetings on the same day. In other instances, elected officials may have community event commitments.
But as a normal practice, Talamantes said, council members coordinate with each other to ensure there are alternates at these meetings for quorum.
“That woman works harder than anybody else,” Talamantes said. “Mai Vang always shows up for the people and for important votes.”
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