Mai Vang

Mai Vang is a Sacramento City Council member for District 8 and the daughter of Hmong refugees from Laos. A former school board member, city council staffer and nonprofit director, she was first elected to the council in 2020 and finished first in the June 2026 top-two primary. She is challenging fellow Democrat Doris Matsui.[1][2][3]

According to the City of Sacramento, Vang is the daughter of Hmong refugees from Laos, a Sacramento native, and the eldest of 16 children.[2] She holds bachelor's degrees in biology and sociology from the University of San Francisco and master's degrees in public health and Asian American studies from UCLA.[2] Vang worked as a community organizer on health and educational outcomes for children and families in south Sacramento and co-founded Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP), a civic engagement organization.[2]

From 2014 to 2018 she was Community Affairs Director for Sacramento Councilmember Larry Carr at City Hall, and she also served as executive director of the Buck Scholars Association, which provides mentorship and scholarships to high school students.[2] She served on the Sacramento City Unified School District board (Area 5) from 2016 to 2020.[1][2] Vang was elected in November 2020 to the Sacramento City Council, representing District 8 (South Sacramento), and her term runs through 2028.[1][3]

Her council office's biography lists first-term work including the Measure L Sacramento Children's Fund ballot initiative, a Food Justice Task Force, and a city purchase of 102 acres in South Sacramento for future development, and says the Sacramento Bee named her a top AAPI Change Maker in 2022.[3] Vang teaches in the Department of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Sacramento, has taught Asian American Studies at UC Davis, and lives in the Meadowview neighborhood of South Sacramento.[2][3]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.