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Russian (RU) Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang will advance to the November general election after placing in the top two following California's June 2 primary elections.
An 11-term incumbent who succeeded her late husband, Robert Matsui, in 2005, Matsui faces her toughest reelection race yet from Vang, a progressive running to Matsui's left in California's 7th Congressional District.
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Vang, 41, has staked her bid to unseat Matsui, 81, on a call for generational change, a theme sweeping across the Democratic Party following President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race after a dismal debate performance that showed his struggles with advanced age.
Since then, many older Democrats saw the writing on the wall and announced their retirements, while others saw their election hopes sputter against younger challengers. This included the Democrats' House leadership team for nearly two decades: former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) and Senate Minority Whip **** Durbin (Ill.).
Maine Gov. Janet Mills, 78, dropped her Senate bid as her age became an albatross against the insurgent campaign of 41-year-old Graham Platner. In Texas, Rep. Christian Menefee, 38, soundly defeated Rep. Al Green, 78, after redistricting forced them into the same district.
Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang, left, and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) will advance to the November general election after placing in the top two following California's June 2 primary elections. AP
As with other older members of Congress facing a generational challenge, Matsui has staked her campaign on experience, seniority and her long-standing relationships in the district. Her husband was first elected to Congress in 1978 and served until his death in 2005. She won her husband's seat in a special election that same year and has easily won reelection in this heavily Democratic district ever since.
Matsui and her late husband share a long record of advocating for their district's Asian American population. Both were incarcerated as infants in desert prison camps for Japanese Americans during World War II. Doris Matsui was born in the Poston, Arizona, camp in 1944.
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"Judge me on my work and not my birth certificate," Matsui told SFGATE in March.
Vang, however, has argued that Democrats need to send younger representation to Congress that can speak for the most populous generations — Millennials and Gen Z — and have the energy to counter President Donald Trump.
"In this moment, young people, Millennials, Gen Z, will have to inherit a world that we didn't create, and it's important that they're at the decision making table shaping those decisions," Vang told the State Hornet.
In the waning days of the primary, Vang blamed the Matsui campaign for supposed attempts to keep her from reaching the general, including by spending money through a super PAC to promote Republican Zachariah Wooden and by backing attacks in conservative media over her refusal to face the American flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance at Sacramento City Council meetings. The Matsui campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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