Vang Challenges Tainted Endorsement After Pelosi Violates Caucus Rules To Support Matsui

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - FEB 22, 2026, 8:30am

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA — This morning, Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang formally challenged the 7th Congressional District endorsement before the California Democratic Party's Primary Endorsement Review Committee (PERC), urging the committee to adhere to the party’s own bylands, remove the tainted endorsement from the consent calendar, and recommend no endorsement now that the process has been compromised.

On Saturday, retiring Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi forced herself onto the agenda of the district's regional endorsement vote — a vote she had no role in — to personally lobby on behalf of 20-year incumbent Rep. Matsui. Debate was abruptly cut short, and delegates cast their ballots immediately after one of the most powerful figures in the Democratic Party took over the agenda and told them how to vote.

Only delegates from the district are supposed to speak at regional caucuses — because they're the ones who actually live there. That rule was broken.

"Retiring members of Congress have never inserted themselves into regional caucuses they don't belong to in order to tip the scales for a colleague," said Vang. "When someone breaks the rules to influence an outcome, the answer isn't to reward it — it's to reject it. If this endorsement stands, we are telling every powerful figure in this party that they can walk into any caucus, break the rules, and get away with it."

Attached: Letter to PERC.