Local Leaders call out Matsui by contrast families' rising costs with the millions Doris Matsui and her allies are spending
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 2026
SACRAMENTO, CA. Three days before Election Day, Sacramento City Councilmember and congressional candidate Mai Vang stood outside the Midtown Farmers Market with labor, faith, health care and youth leaders to name what she called the affordability horror story facing families in California's 7th Congressional District.
"It is fitting that today is Halloween, because families here are living an affordability horror story. Mine starts at the gas pump," said Vang. "To fill up my own gas tank this morning, it cost over a hundred dollars. Working families across our district are paying more and getting less, and the true horror story is that our elections are being bought."
California gas averaged $5.89 a gallon last week, $1.53 more than a year ago, and diesel topped $8. Meanwhile, Representative Doris Matsui has put nearly $7 million of her own fortune into her campaign, and AIPAC-aligned groups have spent roughly $785,000 on her behalf in the final stretch. Vang takes no corporate PAC money.
"When we took our workers out on strike, hundreds of thousands of state workers took to the streets because of this affordability crisis," said Anica Wells, president of SEIU Local 1000 and the Sacramento Central Labor Council. "Mai has shown up every time to stand with us and be our voice."
"What would you do with seven million dollars? That's how much Doris Matsui, a multimillionaire, has spent on her re-election campaign," said JD Garcia, vice president of CAPS-UAW Local 1115. "In Sacramento, we have a chance to push back against wealth inequality and elect a champion for working people, and that's Mai Vang."
Dr. Umer Waris, a community physician with Physicians Against Genocide who serves Medi-Cal and uninsured patients, said many of his patients now pay their bills with credit cards. "That's how expensive it has become, and so many of our elected officials are so disconnected," he said.
"Our faith teaches us that justice is not conditional," said Dr. Sumayya Jawadi of the Greater Sacramento Muslim Public Affairs Committee, which recently issued an open letter of no confidence in Matsui. "We need candidates like Mai Vang in Congress who show that morality and compassion still have a place in politics."
"We cannot afford to send someone to Congress who won't challenge the status quo," said Alice Montes-Christopher, advisor to FemDems of Sacramento. "We need someone who won't be beholden to the corporations and billionaires working against us every day."
Vang closed with a call to action. "In the primary, we were outspent three to one, and we still came in first," she said. "Centering working families scares the establishment. On Tuesday, we're going to show them that organized people can beat money. Make a plan to vote, bring your family and a neighbor, and let's show this region that this seat belongs to the people."
Recording of press conference found here.
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