Two Native American Women Just Rewrote U.S. Political History in the Same Week
Peggy Flanagan became the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate while Deb Haaland won New Mexico's governorship, a historic double breakthrough from last week's midterms.
Last week's midterm elections delivered a historic first for Native American women in U.S. politics — twice over. Minnesota's Peggy Flanagan became the first Native American woman elected to the United States Senate, while in New Mexico, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland was elected governor, becoming the first Native American woman to lead a U.S. state.
Flanagan, 47, a citizen of the White Earth Nation, defeated Republican Michele Tafoya for the open Minnesota Senate seat vacated by Sen. Tina Smith's retirement, winning with 53.8% of the vote, according to Minnesota Public Radio. It's the second history-making statewide win of her career — she was already the first Native American woman elected to a statewide executive office in the U.S. when she became Minnesota's lieutenant governor in 2018.
A historic double in the same cycle
In New Mexico, Haaland — a former congresswoman who served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior — defeated Republican Greggory Hull, the former mayor of Rio Rancho, to win the governor's race. Unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State's office had her at 57% of the vote, and the Associated Press called the race for her on election night, according to Daily Montanan. She is the first Native American woman elected governor anywhere in the country.
Both wins land squarely in a midterm cycle that has already reshaped several state and national races. Native American advocacy groups have pointed to the results as a milestone decades in the making, following years of record Native voter turnout and candidate recruitment efforts in states with significant tribal populations.
Elsewhere, former Alaska congresswoman Mary Peltola is also seeking a U.S. Senate seat this cycle; a Flanagan-Peltola pairing in the Senate would mark a further milestone for Native representation in Washington, though that race's outcome wasn't yet finalized as of this writing.
Both Flanagan and Haaland are expected to be sworn in alongside the rest of the new class of state and federal officials elected this cycle, with inaugurations and swearing-in ceremonies to follow in the coming weeks.