Sacramento’s 7th congressional district race grows increasingly contentious ahead of primary election

Tensions are growing in the race for Sacramento’s 7th Congressional District seat days ahead of the June 2 primary.

Democratic Congresswoman Doris Matsui has represented the Sacramento area for over 20 years. She faces one of the strongest challenges in her career from progressive candidate Mai Vang, a Sacramento city councilmember. In the weeks leading up to the primary, voters are seeing the two campaigns clash.

This past Memorial Day weekend, several conservative news outlets highlighted moments where Vang stood silently and chose not to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance at public meetings.

But Vang publicly explained months ago why she does not participate. She wrote on social media that she uses those moments to reflect on injustice and harm affecting communities locally and globally.

Leslie Jacobs, a professor at McGeorge School of Law, said elected officials can't be forced to participate in patriotic speech.

"The government can't compel someone to say the Pledge of Allegiance or salute the flag," Jacobs said. "They actually have a constitutional right not to if they don't want to."

Jacobs said elected officials can still face public scrutiny over the messages they send.

"People are watching all the time the decisions that people who are in elected office, or running for elected office, are making about what they say and do," she said.

The pledge issue is only one of several disputes that have come up between the two campaigns in the days leading up to election night.

 

Sacramento City Council Member Mai Vang greets students and families at John Sloat Elementary in Sacramento, Calif., on the first day of instruction, Aug. 31, 2023.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

On Friday morning, a group of labor unions and progressive organizations supporting Vang gathered outside Matsui's Sacramento office to criticize what they say is a continued effort to help Republican candidate Zachariah Wooden advance through California's top-two primary system. In that system, only the leading two candidates advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation. 

The groups claimed Matsui directed independent expenditure groups to spend $100,000 to support Wooden, but did not provide evidence. They argued Matsui would benefit from facing a Republican in November. That could be an easier matchup for Matsui in the Democrat-leaning district compared with having to face another Democrat.

The criticism began when Vang’s team claimed that Matsui's campaign website identified Wooden as “the candidate for Republican and Republican-leaning voters" and described him as the Republican choice for the June 2 primary. Vang’s campaign maintains it was intended to encourage Republican voters to consolidate around Wooden.

Vang also criticized Matsui's campaign strategy in a statement to CapRadio.

"Days before the upcoming primary, Matsui loaned herself $1.4 million and steered her aligned super PACs to bankroll and boost a MAGA Republican by any means necessary," Vang said.

Matsui’s campaign strategist, Roger Salazar, rejected the allegation that they would boost a Republican candidate.

"Mai Vang's supporters, who have spent more than $630,000 in out-of-state super PAC money on purely negative attacks at Vang's explicit direction, have no standing to lecture anyone about money in politics," Salazar said in a statement. 

Salazar added that Matsui "knows exactly what's at stake with MAGA Republicans like Zachariah Wooden."

Republican political strategist Rob Stutzman has been observing the race. He said it stands out because Matsui has spent much of her congressional career without a major challenge.

"We've seen the Matsui campaign take on the tactic of trying to help Republican voters consolidate around one Republican, with the hopes of that Republican pushing through and avoiding a messy and expensive runoff with Vang,” he said. 

"It's pretty simple. Doris Matsui has gone unchallenged throughout her career," Stutzman added. "What you have to worry about in a safe seat, of course, is ultimately a primary challenge."

Stutzman said voters pay less attention to the daily back-and-forth between campaigns. But, he noted, age is one of the biggest factors voters may consider beyond the political attacks and social media exchanges.

Matsui, 81, has represented the district since 2005 after winning a special election following the death of her husband, former Congressman Robert Matsui. Vang, 41, was first elected to the Sacramento City Council in 2022.

"Joe Biden clearly looked too old. Nancy Pelosi was older. So is Doris Matsui convincing people she's not too old?" Stutzman said. "I think she probably is, at least for now.”