Two Native American women made history in the midterm elections: Deb Haaland, a New Mexico Democrat, will be the nation’s first woman Native American governor, and Peggy Flanagan, a Democrat of Minnesota, is the first Native American woman to win election to the Senate.
A third Indigenous woman, Mary Peltola, could also be elected to the Senate from Alaska, but her state’s unique ranked choice voting system ensures that a victor in that close race might not be known for days, if not weeks.
This week’s victories were the latest in a string of political accomplishments for Native women in the United States. Ms. Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, has been at the forefront of those milestones: In 2018, she was one of two Native American women elected to the U.S. House, and under the Biden administration, she was confirmed as the first Native American cabinet secretary, overseeing the Interior Department.
In that role, she helped the administration focus on tribal issues, including devoting resources toward finding missing or murdered Indigenous women and conducting a review of the government-run schools that Native children were forced to attend. It was a significant historical shift for an agency that played a large role in the oppression of the nation’s Indigenous people.
She will succeed Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who is term-limited, in New Mexico.
In Minnesota, Ms. Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, will take the seat left vacant by Senator Tina Smith, a Democrat. Ms. Flanagan, the state’s lieutenant governor, worked to improve relations between the state government and the 11 tribal nations in the state as part of her work in Minnesota government.
Ms. Peltola, a Democrat, became the first Alaska Native to serve in the House in 2022. She could double the number of Indigenous women elected to the Senate if she prevails.
Ernesto Londoño and Reis Thebault contributed reporting.
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