A left-wing Sacramento city councilwoman who is running for Congress has repeatedly turned her back on the American flag and refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance.
It remains to be seen how councilwoman Mai Vang’s obstinance will play with voters as she is seeking to unseat longtime Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui in the June primary election.
Vang is reportedly polling neck-and-neck with the incumbent and slightly ahead of Republican Zachariah Wooden, the California Post reported.
However, the deviance may not be the best strategy in the recently redrawn 7th congressional district, which now includes more conservative areas like Lodi, Placerville and El Dorado Hills.
San Joaquin Republican Party chairman David Cushman told the Post said that Vang is attempting to replicate the image of firebrand Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
“Her strategy is badly misjudged and really bad fit for the district,” he told the Post. “She’s trying to be the AOC of the Central Valley, but this is not the same district as AOC’s or even Nancy Pelosi’s district [in San Francisco].”
Vang is the daughter of Hmong refugees. She has refused to take part in the Pledge before, including at a Veterans Day ceremony last year to district meetings on Jan. 22 and March 26, as well as a Sacramento City Council meeting on July 1, 2025, according to the Post.
Steve Maviglio, a Democratic political consultant in Sacramento, called Vang’s actions “completely disrespectful to veterans and their families.”
“It’s ‘Patriotism 101,’ you say the Pledge of Allegiance even if you don’t agree with everything,” Maviglio said. “You can’t say the Pledge of Allegiance — that’s how extreme you are? Come on.”
Vang celebrated her refusal to cite the Pledge of Allegiance on a Facebook post in February of 2025 that included the hashtag “FreePalestine.”
It read in part:
This is exactly why I choose not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance during every council meeting. As much as I love this country, I use that moment to ground myself – to center our communities and remind myself of the injustices and harm that continue to affect so many, both locally and across the globe, under this nation’s influence. We must not tune out – they want us to become numb to the realities we see in the news – it’s part of the plan to keep us complacent. But instead, we resist. We surround ourselves with loved ones, take time to rest, remain vigilant, and stay steadfast in the fight for equity, justice & humanity. We got us. I love you all .
Critics say Vang’s defiance is at odds with the safety her family found in America as refugees in the wake of the Vietnam war.
She said her parents fled Laos after the CIA recruited Hmong communities to fight during that conflict, which left many families displaced and violently targeted after the U.S. withdrawal.
California Republican Party chair Corrin Rankin said Vang’s behavior with the Pledge speaks to broader problems inside the Democratic Party.
“Too much contempt for law enforcement, too little respect for our country, and no understanding of what Californians value,” Rankin told the Post. “Voters want leaders who respect the police and honor our flag. When a candidate cannot meet that basic test, it tells voters everything they need to know.”
Wooden, the Republican and first-time candidate has a shot at finishing in the top two spots against Yang or the incumbent and advancing to the November runoff.“
To hear that somebody wants to be a sitting member of US Congress and appears to be disinterested in the major symbols of American pride and what it means to be an American, it’s not just disappointing — it’s malicious,” he told the Post.
He added, “A lot of her rhetoric is a rejection of our basic American values.”
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.