California’s 7th Congressional District Race: Doris Matsui Pushes Back Against Mai Vang’s Trump and ICE Funding Attacks
Voting records used as a bludgeon
In California’s 7th Congressional District race, Rep. Doris Matsui is pushing back against criticism from fellow Democrat and Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang over her voting record and ties to establishment Democrats.
As the June primary election intensifies, Matsui has launched a new mailer emphasizing her opposition to President Donald Trump, immigration enforcement policies, and ICE activity, while Vang continues attacking Matsui’s congressional voting record on ICE funding and Democratic leadership support for Trump-era policies.
In the increasingly heated mailer and social media messaging battle, Matsui is responding directly to claims by Vang and her supporters that longtime Democratic officeholders have been too soft on Trump and his administration.
A glossy four-page mailer received this week by Democratic voters features the headline, “I stand up to Donald Trump every day.” The mailer highlights Matsui’s background as a Japanese American born in an internment camp during World War II and frames her political identity around opposition to Trump-era immigration policies.
Inside the mailer, Matsui states, “In Congress, I am standing up to the Trump Administration, opposing illegal ICE activity and voting NO on Funding.”
The messaging is a direct response to Vang’s repeated assertions that Matsui has enabled Trump administration immigration policies by voting in favor of federal funding measures that included support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
The exchange underscores one of the enduring vulnerabilities for longtime officeholders: a lengthy voting record that opponents can selectively use to build a political narrative. Matsui, who has represented the Sacramento-based district in Congress for 21 years, has cast thousands of votes that can now become targets in campaign advertising and opposition messaging.
At the same time, Vang also carries a public voting record from her service on the Sacramento Unified School District Board of Trustees and the Sacramento City Council. As the race moves toward an expected November showdown, anticipate that pro-Matsui independent expenditure committees and establishment Democratic allies will scrutinize Vang’s past votes and policy positions and try to leverage them against her.
Those broader PAC-backed attacks are likely to emerge later in the campaign cycle, particularly in September and October, when general election ballots begin arriving in voters’ mailboxes.
