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Bob Matsui

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Bob Matsui
Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
In office
January 3, 2003 – January 1, 2005
LeaderNancy Pelosi
Preceded byNita Lowey
Succeeded byRahm Emanuel
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from California
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California
In office
January 3, 1979 – January 1, 2005
Preceded byJohn E. Moss
Succeeded byDoris Matsui
Constituency3rd district (1979–1993)
5th district (1993–2005)
Member of the Sacramento City Council from the 8th District
In office
November 1971[1] – November 8, 1978[2]
Succeeded byPatrick Donovan
Personal details
Born
Robert Takeo Matsui

(1941-09-17)September 17, 1941
Sacramento, California, U.S.
DiedJanuary 1, 2005(2005-01-01) (aged 63)
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Resting placeEast Lawn Memorial Park
East Sacramento, California
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
​
(m. 1966)​
Children1 son
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
University of California, Hastings (JD)

Robert Takeo Matsui (September 17, 1941 – January 1, 2005)[3] was an American politician from the state of California. Matsui was a member of the Democratic Party and served in the U.S. House of Representatives as the congressman for California's 5th congressional district until his death at the end of his 13th term.[3][4]

The Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse in Sacramento is named in his honor.[5]

Early life

A third-generation Japanese American, Matsui was born in Sacramento, California,[3] and was six months old when he and his family were taken from Sacramento and interned by the U.S. government at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in 1942.[6]

Matsui graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1963 with a BA in political science, and then graduated from Hastings College of Law in 1966.[3] He founded his own Sacramento law practice in 1967.[6]

Political career

Matsui greeting President Jimmy Carter in 1978
Congressman Bob Matsui with Geraldine Ferraro and Tom Hsieh at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco
Elijah Cummings, Xavier Becerra, and Robert Matsui at a press conference on civil rights in 1997

In 1971 Matsui was elected to the Sacramento City Council.[6] He won re-election in 1975, and became vice mayor of the city in 1977.[6]

In 1978, Matsui ran for the Democratic nomination in what was then the 3rd District after 12-term incumbent John E. Moss announced his retirement. He won a five-way Democratic primary with 36 percent of the vote, besting a field that included State Assemblyman Eugene Gualco and Sacramento Mayor Phil Isenberg.[7]

He defeated Republican Sandy Smolley with 53 percent of the vote.[8] He would never face another contest nearly that close in what has long been the most Democratic district in interior California, and would be reelected 13 times. After his initial contest, he never dropped below 68 percent of the vote. He was reelected in 1982 with no major-party opposition, and was unopposed in 1984.[9] His district was renumbered as the 5th District after the 1990 Census.

In 1988, Matsui succeeded in helping pass the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which produced an official apology from the Federal government for the World War II internment program and offered token compensation to victims. He was also instrumental in the designation of Manzanar internment camp as a national historic site and in obtaining land in Washington, D.C. for the memorial to Japanese-American patriotism in World War II.[citation needed]

He was a chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, ranking member of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means, and third-ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee. During his term he was noted for his staunch opposition to privatization of Social Security. He had a mostly liberal voting record having opposed the Defense of Marriage Act, the ban on partial-birth abortions, and the Private Securities and Litigations Reform Act.[citation needed]

In what would be his last election, 2004, he faced Republican Mike Dugas and easily won a 14th term with 71.4% of the vote, compared to Dugas' 23.4%. Opponents Pat Driscoll (Green Party) and John Reiger (Peace and Freedom Party), won 3.4% and 1.8% of the vote, respectively.[10] (DCCC chairs are chosen in part because they are not expected to face serious competition for re-election.)

Personal life

He was married to the former Doris Okada who, until December 1998, worked as deputy assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Public Liaison for President Bill Clinton, leaving to become senior advisor and director of government relations at the firm of Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC before winning election to her late husband's seat. The Matsuis had one son, Brian, who received his undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford University.

Death

In late 2004, Matsui entered Bethesda Naval Hospital with pneumonia on December 24.[4] It was a complication from myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare stem cell disorder that causes an inability of the bone marrow to produce blood products, such as red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. He died of pneumonia on January 1, 2005.[11][12]

In the special election on March 8 to fill the vacant seat, Matsui's widow Doris won with over 68 percent of the vote;[13] she was sworn in on March 10, 2005.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=296020
  2. ^ https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=296232
  3. ^ a b c d "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  4. ^ a b "Congressman dies of rare disease". CNN.com. 2005-01-03. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  5. ^ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d "Official biography". Archived from the original on December 8, 2004. Retrieved 2017-04-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), house.gov/matsui; retrieved January 9, 2007.
  7. ^ 1978 Democratic primary results in California's 3rd congressional district, Ourcampaigns.com; accessed January 13, 2018.
  8. ^ "Our Campaigns - CA District 3 Race - Nov 07, 1978". Ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Robert T. Matsui". Ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  10. ^ "General Election results, U.S. Congressional district 5". California Secretary of State. 2004-12-07. Archived from the original on 2007-03-23. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  11. ^ Harris, Gardiner (13 January 2018). "Representative Robert T. Matsui, 63, Dies". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Rep. Robert Matsui dies". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 3, 2005. p. A3.
  13. ^ "Special Election Results, United States Congress, District 5" (PDF). California Secretary of State. 2005-03-08. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2006-12-15. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  14. ^ Doris Matsui's official biography Archived December 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on January 9, 2007
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 3rd congressional district
1979–1993 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 5th congressional district
1993–2005 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
2003–2005 		Succeeded by
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