I break down the four Democrats who are on the ballot in California's 7th Congressional District.

Doris Matsui

Mai Vang

Robby Morin

Enayat Nazhat

Here is the list of all the candidates in the state: June 2, 2026, Primary Election Notice to Candidates - Congress

Here is the SFGate article I reference in this episode.

Cake, from Sacramento, held a fundraiser before their Sunday night concert for both Mai Vang and Effie Phillips Staley (who is from Sacramento but running for Congress in New York where she's been living against Republican Mike Lawler). Note though that in California, we have jungle primaries where the top two vote getters will advance, but in New York, they still have Democratic primaries.

I also go through this article line by line and also reference Elk Grove vice mayor Darren Suen trying to convince me Doris Matsui is the better candidate in the race for spurious reasons.

I provide some examples of how one popular progressive candidate has endorsements thwarted based on the animus of just one or two anti-progressives in the Sacramento area. Attempts at thwarting are not always successful, either.

Hello, fans and stalkers! For now, we are going AUDIO ONLY! When I conduct interviews, I'll go back to video but this way, I will record more frequently. That is the plan, anyway!

In this episode, I share my experience today at the Democratic Party of Sacramento County's retreat sharing what it was like as a candidate facing a negative reaction to challenging an entrenched Democrat who happens to be part of a political dynasty, and why I essentially tell other candidates to avoid most of these clubs altogether.

Nancy Pelosi crashed the endorsement debate caucus between her bestie Congresswoman Doris Matsui (who cannot earn the endorsement on her own anymore) and the lone progressive on Sacramento's City Council, Mai Vang, who's endorsed by Justice Democrats, Our Revolution, the California Working Families Party, and more. Not even The Sacramento Bee noticed TWO OTHER DEMOCRATIC HOUSE LEADERS were there-- Rep. Pete Aguilar and Rep. Zoe Lofgren. I confronted both of them and shared how much constituents want something new as the original Democrat in this race.

To skip to the recap of the convention, skip ahead to the 30:00; the rest is the explanation of procedures and previous votes and history between the two candidates.

The byzantine process of endorsing old, moderate Democrats and how they keep progressives down. Listen to how Nancy Pelosi crashed the debate caucus to help save 81yo Doris Matsui from losing the endorsement as the 20-year incumbent to progressive Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang. Also, Rep. Pete Aguilar and Rep. Zoe Lofgren were in attendance and NO ONE REPORTED ON THAT but ME; I don't think local media know who they are but I do because I've worked on campaigns for years and on and off the Hill. Learn about how moderate the "young Democrats" of Sacramento are and how a city councilmember colleague of Vang's came through at the last minute to endorse her in the face of mediocre establishment desperation.

I am not recording a long episode like this ever again because it was painful to edit but there are three main topics I cover--

January 12 Candidate forum for CA06 (with Thien Ho, Dr. Richard Pan, Lauren Babb Tomlinson, Martha Guerrero, and Tyler Vandenberg)

SEIU 1000 leadership's unprofessionalism regarding candidates

Saturday's Pre-Endorsement Conferences in Sacramento Area (including Doris Matsui vs Mai Vang, the CA06 candidates again, and the unnecessarily contentious CA03 race). It's a lot but basically, don't run for office in Sacramento until it's more welcoming, and the endorsement process needs to be torched.

Thien Ho as Harvey Dent (start at 13:30)

Sacramento Pre-Endorsement Conference (1/17/26): Doris Matsui, Mai Vang, Tyler Vandenberg, Dr. Richard Pan, Martha Guerrero, Lauren Babb Tomlinson, Thien Ho, Heidi Hall, Ami Bera, Amy Slavensky, David Hildebrand

#sacramento #democrat #roseville #eldorado #election2026

Erica is back from a hiatus with a new recording space and thoughts on some local congressional races in Sacramento, Nancy Pelosi, the death of Congressman Doug LaMalfa, Eric Swalwell's gubernatorial race, and more. And ICE and the antics of Congresswoman Doris Matsui who Erica once ran against but who has even more formidable challenger now.

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Progressive Ericka Kopp ‪sat down with me all the way from Virginia to discuss her race to unseat MAGA Republican Rob Wittman who's been in office for decades. He voted FOR the Big Beautiful Bill and even voted to declare "life begins at conception"-- one of those. Kopp decided to run because with her compelling background as a healthcare lawyer and lived experience as a caregiver, knew she would be a better representative than the incumbent. Discover the power of Eri(ck)as in America running in all corners of the country.

Find her at:
ErickaKopp.com
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