Doris Matsui

Doris Okada Matsui
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Lynn Woolsey
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 5th district
In office March 10, 2005 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Bob Matsui
Succeeded by	Mike Thompson
Personal details
Born	(1944-09-25) September 25, 1944 Internment camp in Poston, Arizona
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	widowed, late Rep. Bob Matsui
Children	Brian Matsui
Residence	Sacramento, California
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley
Occupation	political assistant
Religion	Methodist

Doris Okada Matsui (born September 25, 1944) is the U.S. Representative for California's 6th congressional district. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district consists of the city of Sacramento and the surrounding area. Following the death on January 1, 2005 of her husband, Bob Matsui, she was elected as his replacement in a special election on March 8, 2005, and took the oath on March 10, 2005.

Early life and career

Matsui was born in an Internment Camp at Poston, Arizona and grew up in Dinuba, in California's Central Valley. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a B.A. in psychology, she met her husband. They had one child, Brian.

Matsui was a housewife and socialite and was active in the group "Lawyers' Wives", now called the Legal Auxiliary of Sacramento, while her husband was a local attorney and served on the Sacramento city council before his election to congress in 1979. The Matsuis moved to Washington DC shortly thereafter where they raised their son Brian.

Doris Matsui was a volunteer on the Clinton for President campaign. When he was elected, Matsui served on his transition team. Following the inauguration, she was appointed deputy special assistant to the president and deputy director of public liaison, working under Alexis Herman. One of her duties was to work with the Asian American community.^{[citation needed]} The President appointed her to the board of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in September 2000.

She served in the White House from 1993 to 1998. Later she became a lobbyist in Washington where she represented corporate clients until 2005 when she returned to California to run for Congress against a field of local Democrats.

Matsui speaks on the first day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, in her capacity as convention parliamentarian.

U.S. House of Representatives

Tenure

Matsui's husband, Bob, died from complications of myelodysplastic syndrome on January 1, 2005. On January 9, 2005, the day after his funeral, Matsui told supporters she was running for his open seat. In the special election she garnered 68% of the vote. Press reports said that Matsui won the election before the polls opened as most votes in the election were absentee ballots, which she won overwhelmingly.

In her inaugural speech, she spoke of the many people who encouraged her to run and her family. She pledged to continue the work of her husband, especially regarding flood control projects in Sacramento, the main city in the district.

Matsui is a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. As a member, she has been focused on making the Sacramento area a hub clean technology.

In 2007, Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Matsui to the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents, where she served until 2011. Matsui was one of only three House Members to sit on the board. In 2007, Matsui was instrumental in developing an overhaul of the oversight and accountability practices of the Smithsonian.

In a discussion about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Matsui said that as "more Americans get to know and understand the law, and feel its effects in their lives, the less the public will want to see us take steps back to the broken health care system we have experienced for decades in this country."

Matsui served as convention parliamentarian of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Matsui has been a supporter of earmarks, which have been a controversial topic. She defended her position, saying "members of Congress know their districts pretty well and know what they need."

Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Environment and Economy

Caucuses and other memberships

• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• National Service Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents
  • Smithsonian Regents’ Governance Committee
• Congressional High-Tech Caucus

Electoral history

Special Election for California's 5th Congressional District, March 8, 2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Doris Matsui	56,175	68.2%
	Democratic	Julie Padilla	7,158	8.7%
	Republican	John Thomas Flynn	6,559	8.0%
	Republican	Serge A. Chernay	3,742	4.5%
	Republican	Michael O'Brien	2,591	3.1%
	Republican	Shane Singh	1,753	2.1%
	Republican	Bruce Robert Stevens	1,124	1.4%
	Green	Pat Driscoll	976	1.2%
	Independent	Leonard Padilla	916	1.1%
	Democratic	Charles "Carlos" Pineda, Jr.	659	0.8%
	Libertarian	Gale Morgan	451	0.6%
	Peace and Freedom	John C. Reiger	286	0.3%
	Independent	Lara Shapiro	6 (write-in)	0.0%
Totals			82,396	100%
Voter turnout			%
	Democratic hold

United States House of Representatives elections, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Doris Matsui (incumbent)	105,676	70.8%
	Republican	Claire Yan	35,106	23.6%
	Green	Jeff Kravitz	6,466	4.3%
	Peace and Freedom	John C. Reiger	2,018	1.3%
Totals			149,266	100%
Voter turnout			%
	Democratic hold

United States House of Representatives elections, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Doris Matsui (incumbent)	164,242	74.3%
	Republican	Paul A. Smith	46,002	20.9%
	Peace and Freedom	L. R. Roberts	10,731	4.8%
	Independent	David B.Lynch	180 (write-in)	0.0%
Totals			221,155	100%
Voter turnout			%
	Democratic hold

Personal life

A widow, Matsui has one son, Brian. She has two grandchildren, Anna and Robby.

References

• "Who's Who in President-elect Clinton's transition team". The Washington Post. November 13, 1992. A25.

External links

• U.S. Congresswoman Doris Matsui official U.S. House site
• Doris Matsui for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Financial information (federal office) at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance (federal office) at LegiStorm.com
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Voting record at The Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Bob Matsui	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 5th congressional district 2005–2013	Succeeded by Mike Thompson
Preceded by Lynn Woolsey	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 6th congressional district 2013–Present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Lynn Westmoreland R-Georgia	United States Representatives by seniority 200th	Succeeded by John Campbell R-California