Peggy Flanagan and Deb Haaland are set to break two barriers in United States politics after election projections put the Native American Democrats on course for a Senate seat and a state governorship, respectively.
Flanagan, a citizen of the White Earth Nation, won the Minnesota race for the US Senate. Haaland, a citizen of Laguna Pueblo, won the contest to become governor of New Mexico. Flanagan is the first Native American woman elected to the Senate, while Haaland is the first elected governor of a US state.
Both victories were called after voting on 3 November. The results remain unofficial until state election authorities complete their processes, and neither woman has yet taken up her new office.
From Minnesota to the Senate
Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor since 2019, defeated Republican Michele Tafoya, a former sports broadcaster. She sought the seat being vacated by Democratic Senator Tina Smith, who did not run for re-election.
Before becoming lieutenant governor, Flanagan served on the Minneapolis school board and led a Minnesota child-advocacy organisation. She was elected to the state House of Representatives in 2015, where she worked on childcare issues and helped establish a caucus for legislators of colour and Indigenous legislators.
In state government, she has worked on housing stability and the response to homelessness. Her office also credits her with helping to establish Minnesota’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office, which addresses an issue affecting Indigenous families and communities.
During her Senate campaign, Flanagan spoke about the cost of living as well as tribal sovereignty and the federal government’s treaty and trust responsibilities to tribal nations. Those are priorities she has identified, not policies enacted by the election result.
Native American men have served in the Senate before. They include Charles Curtis of the Kaw Nation, who later became vice president. Flanagan’s milestone concerns Native American women’s representation in the chamber.
Haaland prepares for New Mexico transition
In New Mexico, Haaland defeated Republican Gregg Hull, the former mayor of Rio Rancho. She is due to succeed Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, who was unable to seek another consecutive term because of term limits.
Haaland and her running mate, Stephanie Garcia Richard, have begun preparing for the change of administration. Speaking to reporters in Albuquerque on 4 November, Haaland said people interested in serving could submit their details and that she had not made final decisions about her cabinet.
She also repeated her intention to seek a moratorium on new large-scale data centres when she takes office, pending legislation setting rules for the developments. The proposal is not a moratorium already in force. Other priorities she identified include affordability, education, public safety and finding a new leader for the state’s child welfare agency.
Haaland’s election follows earlier milestones. In 2018, she and Sharice Davids of Kansas became the first two Native American women elected to the US House of Representatives. Haaland went on to serve as Secretary of the Interior from 2021 to 2025, becoming the first Native American to serve as a US cabinet secretary.
At the Interior Department, she launched an investigation into the federal government’s historical role in Indian boarding schools. A 2024 report examined institutions where Indigenous children were separated from their families as part of assimilation policies. At her election-night celebration, Haaland spoke about her own grandmother being taken to a boarding school.
Two offices, different responsibilities
The two posts carry different powers. A senator represents a state in the federal legislature, voting on proposed national laws and on presidential nominations. A governor leads a state’s executive branch and works with its legislature on state law and spending.
Neither outcome means campaign promises have been implemented. Both women will need to work within their respective institutions when they take office.
Their firsts also do not suggest that Indigenous women are new to leadership. Native women have long led tribal governments and community organisations. These elections add representation in two offices where no Native American woman had previously been elected.
Featured image: AI-generated illustration.
