A record 225 Native candidates ran on general election ballots in 30 states this year, and 121 were women. On Tuesday, two of them won races no Native woman had ever won. Laguna Pueblo’s Deb Haaland was elected governor of New Mexico, and Ojibwe Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan won a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota.
The wins crossed party lines. In Oklahoma, Chickasaw Republican T.W. Shannon was elected lieutenant governor. All told, at least seven Native candidates came out on top in statewide or congressional races, going by Associated Press calls and local news reports. One high-profile Native candidate lost. Two more races were still too close to call late Tuesday night.
Every seat counts when the gap is this wide. Before the election, Jordan James Harvill of Advance Native Political Leadership told ICT that Native people held about 400 of the country’s 519,000 elected offices. Matching their share of the population would take roughly 17,000.
The AP called Haaland’s race less than two hours after New Mexico’s polls closed. She had 57 percent of the vote with nearly two-thirds of precincts at least partly reporting. The former interior secretary beat Republican Gregg Hull, a former Rio Rancho mayor.
Flanagan led Republican Michele Tafoya, a former NFL broadcaster, 54 percent to 43 percent late Tuesday. She’s been Minnesota’s lieutenant governor since 2019.
Navajo voters chose a first of their own. Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley is set to become the first woman president of the Navajo Nation. She and her running mate, Christopher Deschene, beat Justin Jones and Emily Ellison by about 1,100 votes, according to results reported by the Navajo Times. Jones had outpolled Curley by more than 6,000 votes in the July primary. “We have to empower each other to do the best that we can,” Curley told supporters.
Two more Native women won House races. Ho-Chunk Rep. Sharice Davids earned a fifth term in Kansas’ 3rd District, beating Republican Eric Jenkins, according to the AP. In New York’s 7th District, Claire Valdez of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo had about 85 percent of the early count. The state assemblymember will be the first known Native person to represent New York in Congress.
Oklahoma was good to Native Republicans. Shannon, a former speaker of the state House, beat Democrat Kelly Forbes with nearly 58 percent. ICT counts him as the fifth Native lieutenant governor ever. Reps. Tom Cole, who is Chickasaw, and Josh Brecheen, who is Choctaw, both held onto their House seats, KGOU reported.
The Senate race went another way. The AP declared Republican Rep. Kevin Hern the winner over N’Kiyla “Jasmine” Thomas, a 31-year-old Chickasaw democratic socialist from Ardmore. Thomas trailed with 39 percent.
Anyone who thinks Native politics belongs to one party wasn’t paying attention.
Mary Peltola and Jonathan Nez are still waiting. Peltola, who is Yup’ik, and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan were about a point apart —or closer —in early returns; neither had more than 50 percent. Alaska will post new counts on Nov. 10, 13 and 18, Newsweek reported. If nobody passes 50 percent, the state will run its ranked-choice count on Nov. 18. Officials aim to certify the results by Nov. 25.
Late Tuesday, Nez, a former Navajo Nation president, led Republican Rep. Eli Crane by 195 votes in Arizona’s 2nd District, KTAR reported. Crane beat him in 2024. Nobody had called the rematch.
Voters from Bethel, Alaska, to Window Rock, Arizona, did their part. Now every ballot needs to be counted. Come January, Native women are set to take office as a governor, a senator, and the Navajo Nation’s president. Each is a first.
Native people are still more than 16,000 offices short of a fair share. Even so, Tuesday’s winners came from red states and blue states, from a tribal election and from races for Congress. Each win puts another Native voice in the rooms where decisions about NDN Country get made.
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