Doris Matsui, a longtime member of Congress, and Mai Vang, a Sacramento City Council member, are leading Tuesday\u2019s primary election in the 7th District. The winners this week will go head-to-head on November\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n
Matsui, with about 30.7% of the early results in Sacramento, El Dorado and San Joaquin counties, leads Vang, who has 24.9% of the vote. Republican Zachariah Wooden trails with 24.1% of votes.<\/p>\n
Almost half of the votes had been counted as of the results released at about midnight.<\/p>\n
The candidates are squaring off to represent Sacramento at the national level. For Matsui, this would be her 11th term in Congress. Along with Vang and Wooden, her challengers included fellow Democrats Robby Morin and Enayat Nazhat, plus Republican Ralph Nwobi.<\/p>\n
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Proposition 50, a state ballot measure to redraw congressional lines in favor of Democrats, shaded the 7th District more purple.<\/p>\n
Under the new maps, Matsui and Vang are competing for a seat that includes Sacramento\u2019s central city, South Sacramento, plus Elk Grove, El Dorado Hills, Placerville and Galt.<\/p>\n
![\"Matsui\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC02892-1024x575.jpg.webp\")
Doris Matsui speaks with supporters at a campaign party at Sellands Cafe & Bar in Sacramento on June 2, 2026. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\n
![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC01092-1024x576.jpg.webp\")
Mai Vang, left, at a campaign party at The Lock & Key in Sacramento on June 2, 2026. (Martin Christian)<\/p>\n
A time for change?<\/p>\n
Since launching her campaign in September, Vang has said the moment is right for the next generation to take the wheel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is another choice on the ballot for the first time in 21 years,\u201d Vang, 41, told Abridged earlier this spring.<\/p>\n
For decades, a member of the Matsui family has represented Sacramento. Robert Matsui was first elected to Congress in 1979, then died in office in 2005. Doris Matsui, his wife, won a special election to succeed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we need now is really experienced leadership,\u201d Matsui, 81, said at a campaign event last month.<\/p>\n
Immigration at the forefront<\/p>\n
Immigration has been a flashpoint in the battle between Vang and Matsui.<\/p>\n
Vang said previously she jumped in the race following dissatisfaction with the incumbent\u2019s record.<\/p>\n
According to Vang, she asked Matsui, in a meeting with the congresswoman, for details of her stance on immigration policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd she turned to her staff and she said, \u2018What is our position on immigration?\u2019\u201d Vang said.<\/p>\n
Matsui has disputed that account, calling it a \u201cdistortion\u201d of a conversation that was actually about a pardon for one of Vang\u2019s relatives.<\/p>\n
The congresswoman has made multiple appearances outside the John Moss Federal Building in Sacramento, denouncing federal immigration policies.<\/p>\n
Savannah Kuchar\u00a0is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source. <\/p>\n
Felicia Alvarez\u00a0is a reporter at Abridged covering accountability. She\u2019s called Sacramento home since 2015 and has reported on government, healthcare and breaking news topics for both local and national news outlets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Abridged version: Longtime U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui and Sacramento City Council member Mai Vang lead the pack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-346113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}