Retiring Guy's Digest: Step aside, please: Sacramento city council member Mai Vang and 3 others will challenge 80-year-old, 11-term Doris Matsui in California 7th CD Democratic primary

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Step aside, please: Sacramento city council member Mai Vang and 3 others will challenge 80-year-old, 11-term Doris Matsui in California 7th CD Democratic primary

Election results: Ballotpedia

Headline: The Downballot, 9/17/2025

Jeff Singer and David Nir report:

Vang, 40, is the daughter of Hmong refugees who fled Laos following the Vietnam War and the eldest of 16 siblings. Vang first won her seat on the Council following a competitive race in 2020, then secured a second term without opposition four years later.

At 80, Matsui is twice as old as her new rival—and has been around local politics far longer. Her husband, Bob Matsui, was first elected to Congress in what was then numbered the 3rd District in 1978. He rose through the ranks, eventually becoming the top Democrat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, but died on New Year's Day in 2005.