How Progressive Candidates Counter Big Money

Joining me now is my vang, the Sacramento City Council member, challenging Congresswoman Doris Matsui in California's 7th District. My welcome to Pots of America. Hi, Dan. Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor to be on your show today. So thank you so much. Of course. The context of this is that I was in Sacramento a couple of weekends ago where our best friends live and I was unloading our car. We were watching their kids for the weekend. You walked down the street because they have a vang sign being held by a skeleton in their front yard because you wanted to check out the house. You're with David Hogg. We got to meet each other. We had a conversation. Now, I thought this would make for an interesting conversation on the pod because at this time of the year, we are usually talking to candidates who are running against a Republican because of California's top two primary system, you're a Democrat running against a Democrat. So as I mentioned, you're challenging Doris Matsui, who's been an office for a long time. But before we get into that race, just tell us a little bit about yourself. Yeah. Well, my name is Mai Bang for those that are listening. I am the proud daughter of Hmong refugees, the eldest of 16 children and a current city council member on the City of Sacramento. I have spent my life fighting for and organizing with our working people. I grew up actually in Sacramento born and raised and I grew up on a MediCow in food stamps and had it not been for these critical safety net programs. I probably wouldn't be here today. I'm in public service because I really do believe that government can be used for a force of good. If you have the right people in the halls of Congress, at City Hall, fighting for working families, I was the first in my family to go to college. My teacher had said that if I went to college, it would be my one ticket out of poverty. And so I worked with her every Tuesday, Thursday night till 11.30 AM and she would take me back to my house, help with scholarships and college applications. Went to college. I went to the University of San Francisco for undergrad and then I went to UCLA for grad school. I got my master's in public health policy and Asian American studies. And after I finished my college degrees, I got a phone call from my parents said that they needed help back at home. One of the reasons why I actually went to college was because of poverty. I remember growing up as a little girl back in the days when you didn't have an EBT car. You actually had food stamps. And I remember waiting in line with my mom when she would fill out signed cupons for milk cheese and cereal. And I remember the ways that people used to look at mom. And I told myself that I would leave Sacramento that I didn't want to be poor and try to live the American dream. But it was when I went to college that I had my political awakening because I learned about the mong people. For those that may not know about the mong people, my parents came here as refugees because the United States recruited the mong people to fight in the secret war of Laos. That was during the Vietnam War and a war that America should not have not engaged in. And when they withdrew their troops, there were persecution and killing of the mong people. Over 40,000 mong soldiers died in villagers. Even boys ages 10 it up, the CIA recruited us to fight in that. And my parents were the villagers, they left their village, was in the jungle for six months across the main con river, made it a Thailand to seek refuge and came here. And I didn't know that story until I actually went to college. My mom and dad, I think they did the best they could, just love on us, take care of us. And then I learned my own history when I actually went to college and that was when my activism began. And so fast forward, I graduated from college, my mom gives me a call saying we need help at home. And the reason why I left Sacramento was because of poverty, but poverty is the reason why I came back home. And so I came back to South Sacramento and I was a community organizer in South Sac, registering our communities to vote. And after organizing in South Sacramento, I ran for school board. I was on the school board for four years, then serving on the city council now. So that's, that's my story. I grew up here born and raised. I love this community with all my heart, so. And so taking on an incumbent member of Congress of either party, it's not easy to do. Taking one on your own party is like it's a big political risk. What led you to run against Doris Metzui this time? I don't take running against an incumbent lightly. I always knew that it was going to be an uphill battle when we made the decision. But last year, we didn't hear from our Congresswoman when Trump was reelected in 2024 for the first six months. And there was deep frustration from the community, from community organizers and activists with everything that was going on in our country. And I remember several friends and family members approached me and asked me if I would consider running Dan and I actually at that time, I had told them no. For several reasons, one, you know, I'm a daughter of Hmong refugees and in our culture, we're really taught to love on and respect our elders. And I just felt that, you know, at that time, maybe we just needed to meet with the Congresswoman. And so I told the team, you know, I'm going to try to schedule a meeting with the Congresswoman, share with her the work that we were doing on the ground. And maybe we can work with her in partnership. And so, you know, I tried to reach out to her office about seven times as a City Council member and didn't get a meeting confirmed until I got her cell phone and texted her, Congresswoman, I hate to get you involved with this, but I've been trying to get on your calendar, could we schedule a meeting? And then she responded, you know, let's schedule a meeting. And so I finally got a meeting late fall of last year, at the end of August, and the meeting was at the Metzui Federal Building. They have a federal building name after them. And I remember going into the meeting at 10 a.m., the first 15 minutes, I really used that time to think the Congresswoman for her service. I asked her how she was doing under this authoritarian administration. I thanked her for her service. And then started sharing with her the work that I was doing on the ground with various grassroots efforts on helping immigrants and refugees build a case around really keeping them here because what was happening, ice was kidnapping, our neighbors off the street. And we really needed to protect our immigrants and refugees. And about halfway in the meeting, I asked the Congresswoman, what is your position on immigration? And then she turned to her staff and she said, what's our position on immigration? And then her staff asked me if I had spoken to the state senator or the assembly member in the region, and I said I had, but that immigration was, it was a federal issue. And then in that moment, she said to me, look, my, we just have to win back the house. And in that moment, I remember sitting there in front of her when she was talking about winning back the house for Democrats. And I absolutely agree with her, but I just thought to myself, yes, we got to win back the house, but we got to win back the house with Democrats that understand what's happening on the ground. Democrats that understand the day-to-day struggles are working families. And in that moment, I wasn't sitting there really as a city council member. I was sitting there as a constituent, was just a deep disappointment that my Congresswoman didn't really understand what was happening. And then I remember just hearing voices of friends and families say, hey, my, you know, you should think about running, right? And my palms was getting sweaty and I thought to myself, am I going to do this? Am I going to run for Congress? And I was telling myself, no, you're not going to do it like this is crazy. And then I was like, well, this might be my only chance to talk to her and tell her that I might be considering that I'm considering if I do decide to run. And so I had about like two minutes left. And then her staff was like, well, council member Vang, it's time for you to go. I grabbed my backpack and I put it on. And in that moment, I found the courage to tell her and I said, Congresswoman, before I leave, I have one last thing I'd like to share with you. And she looked at me and I said, she's like, yes, my and I said, I'm considering running for Congress. And then she looked at me and she said, are you running against me? And I said, look, we are in the federal building and I am on city time. So I can't talk about campaigns because it's illegal in the federal building. But I'd be happy to move my calendar around and accommodate your schedule to have coffee to share with you why I'm considering. And then I shook her hand. I walked out of the Matzui federal building and then I called my husband and he's like, how did it go? And I said, I think it went okay, but she really didn't have a position on immigration. And he goes, we're running for Congress, aren't we? And I said, I don't know, let's talk about it when I get home tonight. And then I called my friends afterwards and I told them, are you all ready? I think we're going to do this. And it's going to be really scary. I mean, it is no secret that right after I had that conversation with her that she got the endorsement. And I hadn't even announced you, I haven't even decided yet that she got the endorsement of the three mayors of the largest city in Congressional District 7. I always knew that it was going to be an uphill battle because Dan, it's kind of like the, it is the unspoken rule among local electeds that you don't do what I'm doing. You kind of like, wait your turn or wait on the sidelines, but I don't have the luxury of waiting on the sidelines when our democracy is under attack. When I have family and loved ones that are afraid, if they're going to be separated from eyes, when so many of our families are struggling to get by. And so, you know, we've been in this campaign for about a year now. And I'm so excited to build on the momentum from the primaries because the primaries was exciting because we were outspend three to one. And despite us being outspend three to one, despite my opponent, directing her donors to boost the Magga Republican, I hope to knock us out of top two. And as you know, in California with a jungle primary, we not only made top two, but we came in first place. I think it's great in that story that you're the last person in American politics. Don't worry about the hatch act and not discussing the trouble. I think that's very funny. Pots of America breaking news is brought to you by Zippercrooter. Let's be honest, Zippercrooter is everywhere. Why? Because top talent is everywhere too. Just like you, your ideal candidates are tuning into business. sports and podcasts just like this one. When these candidates hear all these ads, it increases the chances that them going to Zipper Cruder and responding to your job posts. So ultimately, you meet them sooner. Of course, you can't meet them unless you go to zippercruder.com/cricket to try it for free. Once you post your job, Zipper Cruder's matching technology finds top talent quickly. And Zipper Cruder has a new feature that shows you the most interested, qualified candidates first, so you meet them faster. No wonder four out of five employers who post on Zipper Cruder get a quality candidate within the first day. But you've got to go to zippercruder.com/cricket to post your job for free. Again, that zippercruder.com/cricket. Oh, and if you forget where to go, don't worry. You'll hear another Zipper Cruder ad soon enough. I get you brought up ice here. Ice is sort of what and your view of Doris Messeway's response to ice and immigration. The Trump era sort of led you to run. How, you know, I know Congressman Messeway is voted for ice funding in the past. How are we going forward? What will the difference be for the people of Sacramento for your community if on the issue of immigration and ice if you are in office or of Messeway's in office? Immigration is one of the reasons why I decided to run for office. You know, as a daughter refugee, I'm also married to a son of Mexican immigrants. And I know the fears that our families have. And the fears they have waking up if they're going to be separated from ice and their loved ones. And you know, I've taken a position that we have to abolish ice. You know, you can't reform an agency that has killed neighbors have detained and separated individuals based on the color of their skin, the language that they speak where they work. And for me, you know, this is not about enforcement. It's really about targeting our immigrants and refugee communities. As a city council member, you know, I have proven that I can actually deliver for our immigrant and a refugee neighbors on the city council. I've worked on policy to bend ice from city properties. I've worked on funding legal aid to build family protection plan for immigrants and refugees. And I think the difference between me and the congresswoman is that I will move with a sense of urgency really to address our immigration system that's incredibly broken. I think a unique difference between me and my opponent is that I don't take any money from corporate PACs. I don't take money from ice contractors. I don't make a profit in trading stocks on geo groups. And I think that having that independence is really key so that you can move with a sense of urgency to really address immigration in our country. In the other interviews we've been doing, as I've mentioned, have been with Democrats running as Republicans in all of those races, the core dynamic is sort of a referendum on Trump and the Republicans around costs and the war and the run. When they go to the doors, that's what they hear when they're at community meetings because that's sort of the deciding issue. In your race, when you are going door to door, talking to people, trying and they are in you meet the undecided voters, people maybe who have voted for Metsu in the past, but are interested in you. What is like, what are you hearing from them about how they're going to make their decision? What issues are top of mind in this Democrat V Democrat race? When I talk to voters and outgrow of Lodi Galt and Alderado, which are the newer areas, the newer areas after Prop 50 pass, I hear the same issues around affordability, accessing health care and housing, but I think a main sentiment I've been hearing from voters, no matter your party affiliation, is really rooting out corruption out of government. There is the sentiment really against establishment Democrats, both the Republicans and Democrats that are bought by big corporations, that they're not going to move with a sense of urgency to really protect our families and meet their needs. That's what we're hearing in this moment, a deep frustration with the establishment, and I would say, Dan, I do feel that as a younger millennial, that the establishment, no matter your party affiliation, the establishments that are bought by big corporation, they created the conditions for what we have today, and there's a reason why I'll share with you. One out of five newly registered voters in Sacramento County register as a Democrat. For me, I think as Democrats, we should really take a look at that and ask why. And I think it's because we are not talking about the issues, impacting our working families and the other pieces. I do believe that we don't have leaders in the halls of Congress that actually understands the struggles of so many of our working families. And I think that's important, be able to translate policy, right, to meet the material needs of our families. When I was in Sacramento that weekend, I was watching a lot of football with the with Charlie the 10 year old that you met in front of their house. And I saw a lot of political ads, but one of them was, but I saw several versions of an ad running against you that, that critiques you for missing council meetings. Could you talk a little bit about your response to that? Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity to address the misinformation from her campaign that are actually funded by big corporations. Look, if we are talking about showing up for working families, you know, since being elected, I have attended and hosted more town halls, more office hours, more listening sessions than Doris in her 22 years combined. And I actually have not missed city council meetings. The meetings that they're talking about are JPA meetings, which are important. But at that time of the data that they were sharing, what a JPA meeting is. Yeah, joint powers authority. So as city council member, we get appointed by the mayor to sit on multiple committees, whether that's air quality or transportation or public library, all of these meetings. And at that time, I was placed on 16 committees, probably more than any council members, because a former council member, lowly, stepped down and we didn't, we needed to point someone. And so I took a lot of those committees and sometimes these committees actually happened at the same time. And so if there's quorum in one, I would tend the other. And so one of the ad was like, and then she missed meetings. And then she was removed. And it was like, I was removed, but because we appointed Sean towel for district two. And the mayor removed us from those seats, several of us to give him those committees. Right. And so as you know, in politics, when you're explaining, you're losing. And so those are misleading ad. And her campaign has gone completely negative. Instead of running on her record, the reason why they are running negative ads is because I think they have polling. And we, we have polling that shows that they're behind. And the only way for them to maybe gain some points is to to go negative. You know, you mentioned that taking on an incumbent Congress in Joyce, Matsui is an institution, you know, sure, the Matsui family is represented that seat in some way she performed for a very, very long time now. How much pushback have you gotten from institutional players in the California Democratic Party, the National Democratic Party, sort of labor unions and other sort of stakeholders? You know, Dan, when we made the decision to run for Congress, I knew it was going to be an upheld battle. Again, I don't take running against an incumbent lightly. I often share the story of how my mom has a photo of the Matsui family on her desk. So there is this deep sense of gratitude to the Matsui family that have served our region. But I also know that again, like I showed you, it's kind of the unspoken role that you kind of don't do what my being is doing. You wait your turn, or you wait on the sidelines, although I never had to really thought about running for Congress. I will share with you, there was conversations that I had before we announced. And I remember actually going to several political consultants that's been part of the Democratic Party for a long time and said that I was considering running because we didn't have this sense of leadership with urgency. And I remember them telling me, do not run and help her become a better Congresswoman. And I would say the same consultants that are working on her campaign now. And again, I don't have the luxury of waiting on the sidelines. So many of our families are living in fear. We're taking on an authoritarian administration. And we need a new generation of leaders. We also need candidates who can excite our base, can excite young voters. We won in the primaries because I would say there's a deep frustration from voters in this region, but also a sense of hunger for a new generation of leaders. And I'm excited to build on that momentum and bring in home in November. And it's going to be tough because we just learned I just learned this weekend that Doris loaned herself another 1.5 million in this month alone in October. She's loaned herself four million dollars in this general cycle. She has loaned herself seven million dollars. We don't have that money. I don't have that type of money, but we have a thousand volunteers out knocking on doors. And I really do believe as a community organizer that Dan, I'm going to say this, yes, we still can. I still believe that, you know, yes, yes, we still can, you know, we are being outspent 10 to one, but I still believe that a community organizer like me from South Sacramento can take on big money, can take on the institution and win. Right. And that Democrats, no matter your party affiliation, we got to be able to be laser focus on the on the living conditions of our working families, the concerns that our young people have. We got to be true to ourself, be authentic. And also we will be able to compete, you know, in modern media, right, like in organizing and digital. We're going to we're going to show the establishment that it is possible to do this to do the grassroots organizing and and and beat money. If folks watching today want to help out your campaign, where can they do that? Again, like I share with all of you, we don't have the money, but we have the mini over a thousand volunteers knocking on doors right now. And I will share with all of you, we do need to raise another 40 K to keep our ads running because we're being outspent. And so please go to myforest.com to donate a sign up to phone bank or volunteer. If you don't live in congressional district seven, which is Sacramento, Oak Grove, Loadite Gulf, El Dorado, Placerville, you can sign up online at MyForS.com to actually foam bank. We are lutes really eight days away from election. And I'm really excited to build on the momentum. This campaign is going to show how organized people can actually beat money in our region, but also activate a base that has been long ignored. And so I'm really excited for this campaign and for this region. My van, thanks so much for joining us. Good luck down the stretch and maybe I'll see you on the streets of Sacramento again soon. Yes, thank you so much Dan, really appreciate it.