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U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui and Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang sit side by side following their debate on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, at the California Democratic Party state convention in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS<\/p>\n
jvillegas@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
For the last 20 years, Rep. Doris Matsui has been elected and re-elected to Congress not fully on merit, but because she faced candidates who couldn\u2019t raise enough money to really challenge her, even in a primary.<\/p>\n
This year, finally facing a real opponent in Sacramento City Council member Mai Vang, Matsui used her own campaign money to elevate an easier opponent to face in the November general election: A 24-year-old Sacramento State student named Zacariah Wooden.<\/p>\n
Before Matsui started playing campaign tricks, Wooden had little money and even less of a chance<\/a> at winning the primary. But after Matsui platformed him on her campaign website<\/a>, the young man whose only experience is serving on the Associated Students at Sac State has become a serious contender, according to early election returns.<\/p>\n Wooden is now just 217 votes ahead of Vang<\/a> \u2014 who has always been the real challenger to Matsui\u2019s incumbency. That\u2019s why Matsui wants nothing to do with Vang and has ducked appearing alone with her at all costs.<\/p>\n Before the election, Matsui pulled a dirty trick known as \u201credboxing\u201d \u2014 a campaign practice by which candidates publish messages in red boxes they want outside spenders to see. They typically include strange phrases such as: \u201cVoters need to see, read, and see on the go\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a way of technically complying with the law while still helping super PACs craft their message,\u201d Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor, told The Los Angeles Times. \u201cIt\u2019s epidemic. It\u2019s absolutely standard procedure.\u201d<\/p>\n Matsui\u2019s campaign website<\/a> says Wooden, still a college student, has a \u201crecord of serving the community\u201d and was fighting to advance President Donald Trump\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n \u201cRepublican and Republican-leaning (no party preference) likely primary voters need to see, read and see on the go that Zachariah Wooden is the strongest Republican in the June 2 primary,\u201d the website states.<\/p>\n It also highlighted Wooden\u2019s endorsements among local GOP groups and his belief that local law enforcement should partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.<\/p>\n Kevin Liao, Matsui\u2019s campaign spokesperson, told The Bee the information on the website was to contrast Matsui with some of the \u201cextreme Republican ideas\u201d Wooden proposed.<\/p>\n In reality, it was a transparent attempt by Matsui and her advisors to bring the public\u2019s attention to a low-level name in the race so that she wouldn\u2019t have to face Vang in a run-off \u2014 redboxing.<\/p>\n According to the Campaign Legal Center<\/a>, a nonpartisan legal organization, \u201cCoordination, including redboxing, erodes the accountability that everyday voters need from our elected officials.\u201d<\/p>\n A CLC study of the 2022 election<\/a> showed that the strategy was used by more than 200 federal candidates across the country, \u201cfrequently resulting in hundreds of times more super PAC spending in those races.\u201d<\/p>\n Over and over again, I\u2019ve heard Matsui\u2019s supporters say that Vang simply doesn\u2019t have the experience to serve in Congress.<\/p>\n This sort of backroom politicking, along with Matsui\u2019s lack of accessibility to voters, clearly played a role in early voting returns showing that more than 70,000 voters chose to cast a ballot for someone else besides Matsui.<\/p>\n Matsui\u2019s tactics are another example of just how far the Democratic establishment will go to avoid accountability from young voters who want change,<\/a> and a sign of how far powerful members of Congress will go to maintain their power.<\/p>\n California\u2019s Democratic Party has worked hard to undermine young, progressive candidates: In California\u2019s 22nd Congressional District, the party has done all it can to promote Jasmeet Bains, a centrist who serves in the California Assembly, over a 30-year-old progressive candidate, Randy Villegas<\/a>.<\/p>\n Right now, Vang and Villegas still have a chance to overcome these Democratic Party tricks and make it to the November runoff despite their own party\u2019s attempts to discredit them.<\/p>\n In Vang\u2019s case, the smear job has included vile stories in the conservative press that questioned her patriotism. Her viability for voters has only crystallized in the face of the 81-year-old incumbent\u2019s desperate and sad attempts to cling to power.<\/p>\n Sacramento, do we really want a congressmember who uses personal wealth to promote a no-chance newcomer, just so she can more easily beat him in November? Is Matsui truly that afraid of an actual debate with a real opponent?<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, left, speaks during a congressional candidate forum for CA District 7 at Coloma Center in Sacramento on Thursday, April 2, 2026, as candidates, from left, Zachariah Wooden, Ralph Nwobi and Mai Vang listen. HANNAH RUHOFF hruhoff@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
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