Kelley Nalewaja is the kind of lifelong Republican voter that the party can always count on.

She grew up to parents who — shaped by Holocaust-survivor relatives and generations of farmers in the South — instilled a deep appreciation for America’s history. At 18, Nalewaja proudly cast her first vote for former President Ronald Reagan.

She has spent the next 40 years voting exclusively for GOP candidates in every California election. But this November, Nalewaja will vote for a Democrat.

That candidate is U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento. She’s a pillar of the Democratic establishment who is backed by a litany of major party leaders including Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Nalewaja’s decision, however, is less a vote for longtime representative than a rebuke of Matsui’s progressive challenger: Sacramento Councilmember Mai Vang. The two Democrats are in a fierce intraparty battle for the 7th Congressional District, which will represent about 760,000 people and includes Sacramento’s downtown core along with parts of El Dorado and San Joaquin counties.

Why some California Republicans plan to back a Democrat | Sacramento Bee