Matsui and Van clash over health care, campaign funds and Gaza at packed forum

Longtime U.S. Rep Doris Matsui and challenger Mai Vang clashed during a candidate forum for the 7th Congressional District on Thursday on the topics single-payer health care, campaign finance and the Gaza war.

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During the forum, held in Sacramento’s Elmhurst neighborhood and attended by over 300, Vang, a Sacramento City Council member, tried to present herself as farther left and more in touch with working families than Matsui, a Democrat who’s served in Congress since 2005. While there are other candidates in the race, Vang is expected to be Matsui’s main competition.

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“Doris is a multi-millionaire married to a billionaire,” said Vang, 40, also a Democrat. “She doesn’t understand the day-to-day struggle … she is bought by corporate PACs … when you have a corporate credit card that funds your campaign, you have a debt to pay. You won’t move with a sense of urgency for Medicare For All, you won’t move with urgency to close these (ICE) detention centers.”

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Matsui said she opposed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, that allowed much more corporate money in politics.

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“I don’t like the big money in politics,” said Matsui, 81. “I don’t like Citizens United. I don’t like what that caused, and I believe what we’ve done here, especially in California with Prop. 50 means we really have an opportunity to change this. We can elect more people to Congress who understand how important it is to participate. I feel right now this is an important time to get behind something like this … I don’t intend to put my hands behind my back and give up right now. I have funded many, many Democrats. Democrats, good Democrats who are fighting (President Donald) Trump Republicans and I will make sure they have the money to do that.”

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Vang said Matsui does not support a single-payer health plan like Medicare For All because she “takes money from big pharma and insurance companies.”

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Matsui said she is not against Medicare For All.

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“I’m not averse to Medicare For All, but there are other pathways there, too, and I think we should examine them,” Matsui said. “We are fighting this administration that keeps cutting it. We are working every step of the way to make sure we expand our health care. I’m there. I love national health care. We are gonna get there.”

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Vang said she wants to abolish ICE. “We should all be organizing to close the detention centers,” Vang said. “This is not who we are so we need to abolish ICE.”

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Matsui stopped short of saying she would abolish ICE, but said she and the other Democrats will not fund it until it is reformed.

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“I’ve been on the front lines,” Matsui said, adding she has visited the John Moss Federal Building in downtown Sacramento where immigration hearings are held several times in recent months. “I will not fund ICE anymore. I voted against funding ICE. We are fighting that fight right now. We feel ICE has to be reformed or else we’re not gonna fund it. That’s where the Democrats stand … ICE is bad. ICE is wrong. They have to be reformed, and I will not vote for them until they reform.”

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“It’s a ‘hell no’”

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Both candidates denounced Trump and the Iran war.

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Vang said she doesn’t want her younger brothers, who have served in the military, to be sent to an “illegal war.”

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Matsui said she will not vote for funding for the war.

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“I’ve voted for every war resolution against this war and l’ll continue to, but there’s another way — when he (Trump) comes to us to want money for this war it’s a ‘hell no,’ ” Matsui said.

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Vang said Matsui takes funding from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and has not called the war in Gaza a genocide.

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“The congresswoman has not yet called this a genocide,” Vang said. “So many politicians are bought and that’s the reason I don’t take any corporate PAC money, I don’t take any AIPAC money.”

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Matsui did not directly address those accusations but did call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal.”

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“I have called Netanyahu a war criminal,” Matsui said. “What he’s done to kill thousands of innocent civilians, cause destruction to families, a humanitarian crisis. I will not send any offensive dollars. He doesn’t deserve it, not with his devastation. I have to say this though. Netanyahu does not represent the Israeli people. Just like Donald Trump doesn’t represent the American people. We have to find a way out. Netanyahu has to be a part of this. I still believe in a two-state solution.”

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Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty and all council members aside from Karina Talamantes and Caity Maple endorsed Matsui over their colleague.

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Democrats Enayat Nazhat and Robby Morin, and Republicans Zachariah Wooden and Ralph Nwobi, who are also running for the seat, also participated in the forum. In the most recent Federal Election Commission report,s none of these candidates had raised much money. Matsui’s report showed her with more than $700,000 as of Dec. 31, 2025, and Vang reported raising almost $285,000. The event was organized by 10 different neighborhood associations and the Sacramento League of Women Voters.

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The primary election will be held June 2, and the general election will be held Nov. 3.

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This story was first published April 2, 2026, 8:24 p.m.