Doris Okada Matsui (born September 25, 1944) is an American politician of the Democratic party who represents the Fifth Congressional District of California (Sacramento County, map) in the United States House of Representatives. Following the death on January 1, 2005 of her husband, Robert T. Matsui, who represented the district for twenty-six years, she was elected as his replacement in a special election on March 8, 2005. She took the oath on March 10, 2005.
Matsui was born in Arizona and grew up in Dinuba, in California's Central Valley. While attending the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned a B.A. in psychology, she met her husband. They had one child, Brian.
Matsui was active in California politics, her husband serving on the Sacramento city council before entering congress in 1979, and was an early supporter of Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's presidential 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.
On December 28, 1996, the lead story on the front-page of The New York Times reported Matsui had been active in John Huang 's efforts, called the Asian-Pacific American Working Group, to raise campaign donations from Asian-Americans, which would have been illegal because of her White House position. While Matsui was friends with Huang, the administration denied she played any role in fund-raising and the Times, three years later, admitted it had made a mistake.
She served in the White House from 1993 to 1998. After leaving government, Matsui was director of government relations for the law firm Colleen, Shannon, Scott, stepping down in 2005 to take her seat in Congress. President Clinton appointed her to the board of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in September 2000. Matsui also served on the boards of KVIE-TV and People for the American Way.
Matsui's husband Bob died suddenly of cancer on January 1, 2005. On January 9, 2005, the day after his funeral, Matsui told supporters she was running. In the campaign she was accused of improper land deals, but she won the March 8, 2005, special election with 71% of the vote in unofficial returns. In fact, 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. [1]
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.
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Last updated: 05-26-2005 22:18:15
Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46
