Democrat Deb Haaland is projected to become New Mexico’s next governor and the country’s first Native American woman governor, according to Decision Desk HQ. Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo member and a former secretary of the Interior, easily defeated Republican Gregg Hull. Haaland promised voters she would improve the state of public education in New Mexico and would tackle the rising cost of living, having experienced economic instability herself before launching a small salsa-making business.
She is the third consecutive woman to hold the office in the state. Voters also made history on Tuesday night by marking the first time a state has elected two women of color to New Mexico’s top jobs: Stephanie Garcia Richard will serve as Haaland’s lieutenant governor; previously, she was the first woman and first Latina to be elected as the state’s commissioner of public lands. Peggy Flanagan, the Democratic candidate for a Minnesota U.S.
Senate seat, could also make history if she wins her race, making her the first Native American woman ever elected to the upper chamber of Congress. Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, is Ojibwe and a member of the White Earth Nation. She won her party’s nomination after a closely fought primary where she faced questions about whether her progressive bona fides would sink Democrats’ chances at holding onto the seat.
Flanagan promised voters she would address rising costs and corruption, and said she understood the pain of living in financial instability, having experienced it as a child. Senate is good for our democracy,” Flanagan said in an interview with The 19th. In their time in public office, both Flanagan and Haaland made strides to address the epidemic of violence facing Native Americans, particularly women.
In Alaska, a hyper-competitive race for an open U.S. Senate seat could return former Rep. Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native elected to Congress, back to Washington.
She, too, would make Senate history alongside Flanagan by bringing representation for Native American women to the chamber. Native American women make up about 1.5 percent of the U.S. population. To reach equitable representation in Congress, voters would need to elect at least seven Native American women.
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