In the News

Asian Pacific American Institute of Congressional Studies: March 10, 2005
Doris Matsui Wins Congressional Seat with 69% of Vote

March 8, International Women's Day, Doris Matsui received 69% of the vote in a special election to fill her late husband Robert Matsui's 5th Congressional District seat. She will be sworn in on Thursday. With only a 20% voter turnout, Mrs. Matsui beat a field of eleven other candidates and avoided the need for a runoff election. She becomes the first APA woman elected to Congress from the continental United States and only the third APA woman to serve in Congress, following Rep. Patsy Mink and Rep. Patricia Saiki of Hawaii.

Matsui's opponents included two Democratic candidates, Julie Padilla and Carlos Pineda, Jr., and five Republican candidates, including businessman John Thomas Flynn. Matsui ran a full-fledged campaign and raised over $900,000 over a six-week period to fund her bid for Congress. Donors included Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Senator John Kerry; Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State; and Richard Gephardt, former U.S. House Minority Leader. The next closest candidate only raised $30,000.

Matsui was endorsed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, 29 other U.S. House of Representatives from California, the Sacramento Mayor, ten members of the Sacramento City Council and County Board of Education, State Treasurer Phil Angelides, and several other prominent politicians and residents. Matsui ran on issues of importance to the Sacramento area, including increasing public safety through flood protection, energizing the community and businesses through development, improving transportation options through expanded light-rail and bus service, and supporting the civil reuse and development of the McClellan Air Force Base.