Mai Vang Takes Congressional Campaign to El Dorado Hills
While not social media users or influencers to the extent of Vang's younger supporters, these older and presumably more affluent groups are reliable voters and act as person-to-person influencers within their peer groups.
Following up on her two recent days of canvassing in Elk Grove, 7th California Congressional District Democratic candidate Mai Vang took her campaign to Elk Dorado Hills in the more conservative El Dorado County.
Vang, a Sacramento City Council member, is one of the candidates challenging fellow Democrat and long-time Congresswoman Doris Matsui in the June 2026 California primary election.
With the newly voter-approved Proposition 50 congressional districts, the district still has a Democratic voter registration advantage, albeit slimmer than the current boundaries. With more conservative voters in the reconfigured district, it could encourage a viable Republican to enter the primary race and become a factor in determining who the top two finishers are to face off in the November general election.
As part of her almost non-stop campaign since entering the race in September, Vang held a campaign event in the more conservative Sacramento region suburb of El Dorado Hills. With a less diverse community than the current district, Vang, as seen in her social media post, met with an older white group of supporters.
While Ms. Vang has captured the imagination of younger, progressive voters in the early stages of her campaign, she will need to appeal to other demographics as well. While not social media users or influencers to the extent of Vang's younger supporters, these older and presumably more affluent groups are reliable voters and act as person-to-person influencers within their peer groups.
Even though Vang is campaigning as if there is no tomorrow, Matsui does have the advantage of incumbency. Furthermore, Ms. Matsui has the support of the Sacramento area Democratic establishment and has a substantially larger campaign fund, which can be used to flood the airwaves.
If nothing else, Vang's campaign activity will force Matsui to do something she has avoided for the most part during her 20 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Matsui will have to run a campaign that assures voters that a candidate's age should not be an issue, which will be a difficult needle to thread, given the growing calls from a wide array of Democratic voters clamoring for younger and more energized representation not beholden to corporate interests.
