Matsui's wife plans to run for husband's House seat

The Daily Breeze

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Matsui's wife plans to run for husband's House seat

SACRAMENTO - Doris Matsui, a veteran Washington lobbyist and former Clinton White House official, plans to run for the Sacramento-area congressional seat held by her husband for 26 years, friends and political figures told The Sacramento Bee.

(snip)

Political advisers convinced Matsui she needed to announce quickly before other candidates emerge, Matsui's friends told The Bee.

In recent years, California's voters have twice elected spouses to replace their late congressional husbands: Rep. Lois Capps, a Santa Barbara-area Democrat, and Republican Mary Bono of Palm Springs. But they also rejected one spouse, Marta Macias Brown, when she ran for the San Bernardino-area seat of Democratic Rep. George Brown.

(snip)

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger must proclaim a special election by Jan. 15, which could feature a primary vote in early March. If Matsui wins more than half the vote she would automatically assume her late husband's seat. If not, a follow-up election in late April or early May would determine the


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They will remain silent in any event, regardless of what Democrat is in question--the Greens are more relevant.

I'm sure they didn't go through all that trouble to kill Mr. Matsui just to have his wife take the seat. (I'm kind of curious why they didn't fake his heart attack before the election. Maybe they couldn't get close enough then?)

Rebecca

RIP Victims of Republican assassinations:
2000 Mel Carnahan
2002 Paul Wellstone
2005 Bob Matsui

My heart goes out to her in this difficult time.

A local progressive talk radio personality was pointing out that Rep. Matsui knew of his condition when he just ran for re-election. He did not disclose it to his constituents, which, I agree, is probably the best course of action in a highly contentious congress in which every vote counts. She stated that she thought it was a plan so that his wife could step in and quash opposition by being a widow in grief. That sounds harsh, but it also sounds true.

I do not think that Doris Matsui is the best choice. We need new, progressive voices in congress. Darrell Steinberg is the best choice. Rep. Matsui was a party loyalist, but he had a less than sterling progressive reputation--we can do better. Doris Matsui is enmeshed with an extreme free market/NAFTA agenda. We don't need corporate-aligned lobbyists--we need fine representatives of the working people.

It's a predominantly Democratic district so the odds favor a Dem anyway. The issue is what kind of Dem will be offered to the constituents and what policies/issues is the candidate likely to support? Mrs. Matsui's going for the seat may likely preclude a more progressive Dem from running or having a chance since the political PTB and the $$$ would support Matsui.

Since I live in the district I would like an alternative to a pro NAFTA lobbyist. From The Hill:

"Doris Matsui works at the Washington law firm and lobbying shop Collier Shannon Scott, where she has represented medical-technology manufacturers, telecommunications companies and financial institutions before Congress and federal agencies, according to the firm’s website. She is not an attorney." http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Campaign/010505.html

Bob Matsui was a nice guy but I'm not thrilled at the idea of the Dem Party effectively just handing the district over to his wife.

Any fuzzy feelings the grieving widow might inspire would likely be canceled out by her history as a lobbyist anyhow. I'd rather see a rising star run for the seat instead of an older woman who probably couldn't serve very long anyhow.

Mrs. Matsui is probably the safe choice but playing it safe isn't working out real well for the party lately.

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in DC (was on Cspan last week) Dennis Haskert, in his remarks about Matsui, referred to Doris as "Delores".

The republican bastard couldn't even get her name right...his "sincerity" made me want to :puke: