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Republican Paul Smith said today that he is suspending his campaign against Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui, effective immediately. "Today, I am sad to announce that we will have to suspend campaign operations due to lack of financial support," Smith said in a letter to supporters. "All campaigns must have some support from the voters and it has become apparent just relying on my bank account to pay for everything is no longer feasible." Smith said that if he cannot raise $20,000 by the end of the month, he will end all campaign operations and return to his job selling houses....

Republican Paul Smith said today that he is suspending his campaign against Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui, effective immediately. "Today, I am sad to announce that we will have to suspend campaign operations due to lack of financial support," . . .

(Note: Links removed from email) August 28, 2009 Dear Friends, Over the last several months, I have spoken with many of you about your concerns of the skyrocketing costs of health insurance, anxiety about losing your coverage, and answered your questions about the comprehensive health care legislation being considered in Congress. Most recently, I completed my State of Sacramento's Health Care Tour, where I saw first-hand the constraints on our current health care system. Touring hospitals, community clinics, and meeting with patients, nurses and doctors all across the region, one thing was clear: we cannot afford the status quo. Right...

While many members of Congress have spent their summer recess getting yelled at by constituents at unruly town-hall meetings, Rep. Doris Matsui has opted for a quieter approach. The Sacramento Democrat has not hosted a single town hall meeting this month and has no plans to do so before Congress returns to work in September to tackle a $1 trillion health care bill. She's sponsoring only one event next week, where constituents can call her on the telephone to ask questions. -snip- "I'm not taking away anything from some of the town halls that have been going on," Matsui said...

(Links removed) Dear Friend, In the past few months, conversations about how we can improve our nation's health system have taken place in the halls of Congress, at our kitchen tables, and in waiting rooms across the country. I have spoken with many of you in recent weeks about your concerns about the rising costs of health insurance, and the burden this places on you, your family, and either your business or your employer. I am writing today to invite you to join me for a Telephone Town Hall on Thursday, September 3rd at 7:00pm to talk with me more...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., says the City of Berkeley, Calif., no longer deserves federal money. DeMint was angered after learning that the Berkeley City Council voted this week to tell the U.S. Marine Corps to remove its recruiting station from the city's downtown. "This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families," DeMint said in a prepared statement. "The First Amendment gives the City of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money." "If the city can’t show respect...

California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer followed presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton's lead on Wednesday and announced they would get rid of donations from a fundraiser who is wanted for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge. Two California Democratic House members, Mike Honda of San Jose and Doris Matsui of Sacramento, also said they were dumping campaign cash from Norman Hsu. The moves came after two days of scrutiny on Norman Hsu, who had donated $23,000 to Clinton. The New York senator plans to give the money to charity. Hsu gave $1,000 to Feinstein and $2,000 to...

Rep. Doris Matsui's Sacramento office has become a battleground in the Iraq war.Anti-war protesters occupied her office for a third day Wednesday, even though she opposes the war and President Bush's plan to send more troops.The protesters want her to act on her opposition by vowing to vote against spending bills that fund the war. That's something she won't do, Matsui said. She said it could further endanger troops there. "I have the utmost reluctance to embrace policies that increase the dangers any further," she said.The response didn't soothe John Reiger, one of eight or nine protesters who showed up...

WASHINGTON - President Bush signed into law Friday legislation renaming the federal courthouse in Sacramento after the late Rep. Robert Matsui. A date for the renaming ceremony has not been set. The renaming of the building that Matsui had labored in Congress to authorize and fund is the final federal commemoration of the late congressman, who died unexpectedly on New Year's Day of pneumonia complicated by a rare blood disease. He was 63. The renaming legislation was sponsored in the House by Reps. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, and Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and in the Senate by the state's two Democratic...

Doris Matsui won by a staggering margin Tuesday in the Sacramento-based 5th Congressional District race to become the 46th widow to succeed her husband in Congress. Matsui had to receive more than 50 percent of the vote in order to avoid a runoff under rules of the special election. She did that -- and then some. With 89 percent of precincts reporting, Matsui had 71 percent of the vote in the low-turnout election. Her nearest competitors were Democrat Julie Padilla (7 percent) and Republican John Thomas Flynn (6 percent). Matsui, 60, will fly to Washington early Wednesday and expects to...

SACRAMENTO - Doris Matsui, the widow of the late U.S. Rep. Robert T. Matsui, took a huge early lead Tuesday night in the race to fill the remainder of the term left vacant when Robert Matsui died Jan. 1. A victory by Doris Matsui, a lobbyist and former Clinton White House official, would make her the nation's 45th congressional widow since 1923 to assume the seat of her late husband. She would be the third to win in California under such circumstances since 1998. With the early absentee votes counted, Matsui had 72 percent of the overall and 91 percent...

Democrat Doris Matsui is trying to win election to fill the seat formerly held by her late husband Robert Matsui. Matsui recently passed away - making the seat vacant.In about 1 week there will be a Special Election. To stop Doris Matsui we need to keep her under 50% + 1 vote. We need FReepers from all over the United States to come together and take action.I recommend FReepers support John Thomas Flynn. He has new radio ads he is airing. You can learn more about him here: Flynn's Top Three issues are: * Securing Our Borders * Fighting...

Matsui leads the pack in election fundingHigh-profile Democrats back her campaign for late husband's seat. By Kevin Yamamura -- Bee Capitol Bureau Published 2:15 am PST Friday, February 25, 2005 Doris Matsui raised nearly $700,000 during the first month of her campaign to replace her late husband in Congress, more than 23 times the amount raised by her closest opponent, according to federal records filed Thursday. [snip] Her receipts through Feb. 16 range from $5,000 donations from various political action committees to $250 contributions from friends in Sacramento. Lawmakers and Washington insiders also contributed to her campaign, including former Secretary...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Doris Matsui, widow of the late Rep. Robert Matsui, reported Thursday that she raised nearly $700,000 in six weeks for the March 8 special primary election to replace her husband in Congress. In fund-raisers held in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento since her husband's Jan. 1 death, Matsui tapped $691,867, including donations from congressional Democrats, political action committees and former Clinton administration officials. The totals greatly overshadowed Matsui's opponents in the heavily Democratic 5th Congressional District race for the seat held for 26 years by her late husband, also a Sacramento Democrat. Fellow Democrat Julie Padilla, a Sacramento...

After wavering over whether to debate, congressional candidate Doris Matsui agreed Monday to appear at two forums with her opponents in the special election to replace her husband, the late Rep. Robert Matsui. Both debates will occur Feb. 26, 10 days before the March 8 special election in the 5th Congressional District. Matsui, the Democratic front-runner, faced criticism when her campaign said earlier this month that a 12-way debate would be "impractical." Last week, Matsui reversed course and said she was open to a debate as long as it focused on the issues rather than "name calling." "I'm glad she...

Doris Matsui had seen her stock investments plummet two years ago to a point where she decided she wanted to shift some of her money elsewhere. Matsui, who is running in a March 8 special election to replace her late husband in Congress, figured real estate was a better way to go. Matsui recalled Friday that she said as much back then to major Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, whom she has considered a friend for three decades. "Everybody when they get together at parties talks about their real estate, about how much more your house is worth than it was...

Congressional candidate Doris Matsui on Tuesday dismissed charges that her former partnership with a Sacramento developer could pose a conflict of interest and, in a reversal, said she may debate other candidates. "If an organization that represents the interests of the voters comes forward that is inclusive of everyone, issues-focused and true to the principle of informing voters, then I would entertain that kind of venue," she said in a telephone interview. Matsui faces 11 challengers in a March 8 special election to succeed her late husband, Rep. Robert Matsui, D-Sacramento, who died Jan. 1. Her campaign said last week...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is reserving the remaining slot on the exclusive Rules Committee for Doris Matsui, the widow of her close friend, the late Rep. Bob Matsui (D-Calif.). Doris Matsui is expected to win his seat in a March 8 Democratic primary. Though the plum position is highly coveted by lawmakers who seek the floor time given Rules Committee members, Pelosi has had some difficulty filling it and it remains open after the rosters of nearly all the other committees have been determined. Pelosi’s first pick for the panel was Rep. Dennis Cardoza (Calif.), a member of...

In recent weeks, two of the Sacramento region's most prominent political figures have found themselves facing public scrutiny over their private investments with the region's largest developer, the Tsakopoulos family. First, Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas retreated from his strange role as cheerleader for a plan to finance a new basketball arena by rezoning land, including some owned by the Tsakopoulos family, after press reports that his wife has been a partner with the family in land ventures elsewhere. And now Doris Matsui, wife of the late Rep. Robert Matsui and a candidate to succeed him in Congress, has announced...

Doris Matsui will not debate her opponents in the congressional race to replace her late husband despite saying last week she intended to do so. The decision by the Democratic front-runner sparked criticism Friday among her opponents, several of whom have been calling for public debates leading up to the March 8 special election to replace the late Rep. Robert Matsui. Nick Papas, a spokesman for Doris Matsui, said there are too many candidates - 12 in all - to have a useful forum on the issues. Instead, Matsui plans to hold a series of town hall meetings throughout the...