Even if Mai Vang were to fail in challenging Doris Matsui, she could still be the winner

Over the past few days, a minor political dust-up has arisen within the Sacramento Area Democratic Party. It started with a commentary by Sacramento Bee's editor and columnist Marco Breton, who discussed a possible challenge to long-time Democratic Congresswoman Doris Matsui.

Breton reported on a possible challenge by progressive Democrat and Sacramento City Council member Mai Vang. The second-term council member is reportedly considering a primary challenge to Matsui, who has held the seat since 2005.

While Matsui is firmly ensconced in the Sacramento and the Washington, DC Democratic establishment, Vang is, by Breton's account, a progressive willing to buck local party tradition. That tradition, which is common within both parties, is to wait your turn and observe the so-called Reagan 11th Commandment.

That rule says you should never speak ill of a fellow party member. Although the rule, which first surfaced in 1966, was self-serving for Reagan, it was orthodoxy for both major American political parties.

Should Vang challenge the long-serving Matsui in the June 2026 primary, she will have leapfrogged several Democratic elected officials waiting in the wings to run for the seat once Matsui bows out of her safe seat. Among those looking in the mirror every morning, thinking they could replace Matsui are Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, Sacramento County Supervisors Patrick Kennedy and Phil Serna, State Senator Angelique Ashby, and a long list of others seeking higher office.

While Vang faces long odds given Matsui's money-raising abilities, even if she loses in a primary or the general election, she can establish name identity and a political machine for future races. If Matsui voluntarily leaves office (she will be 82 for the 2026 general election, slightly older than our medically-challenged president), there will be a rush to fill the seat.

Of course, if Proposition 50 succeeds, the redrawn congressional districts will reshuffle the deck of political players, which could include viable Republican candidates. Nonetheless, a Vang challenge is still possible.

Vang could draw many younger liberal and progressive voters who might not otherwise participate if it were Matsui and some other milquetoast candidate on the ballot. Should Vang run, she could face off against Matsui in the 2026 general election.

A Vang challenge of Matsui would not be the first ambitious young politician to challenge a party stalwart. In 2000, a young Illinois state senator challenged an incumbent Chicago Congressman in the Democratic primary, was soundly defeated, but turned that loss into political history.

That state senator was a 38-year-old Barack Obama, who challenged fellow Democrat Congressman Bobby Rush. Even though Obama was trounced, it taught him several lessons, led him to David Axelrod, and put him on a historic trajectory that ultimately placed him in the White House eight years later.

A Vang challenge to Matsui would piss off the Democratic Party regulars as Obama did in 2000. Even if she were to lose, it could put her on a trajectory that could eventually send her to Washington, D.C. to represent Sacramento and Elk Grove constituents.

For Vang and every ambitious politician, timing is everything. Given the dissatisfaction most Democratic voters have with their elected officials' non-response to the Trump administration and their general fecklessness, a message of fight might make the timing right for Vang.