One of the many complaints Americans have regarding their members of Congress is the idea that diverse peoples are being represented by the same “old, white men.”
Among the growing numbers of government representatives looking to change that image, Deb Haaland is seeking to make her mark. After having spent much of her life advocating for those who have gone underrepresented in American society and government, Haaland is running to lead New Mexico’s Congressional District One. Should she win both the June primary and then the November election, she will become the nation’s first-ever Native congresswoman to hold the position.
Haaland has an undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico (UNM), in addition to a law degree from UNM Law School, as well. In 2014, she was the Democratic Lieutenant Governor nominee of New Mexico and in 2012 served as the New Mexico Native American Vote Director for Organizing for America. She is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe, and has a long history of working toward progressive values in her home state. Haaland has helped ensure the passage of SB 482 in the New Mexico Legislature, which allowed members of New Mexican Indian tribes to access in-state tuition at higher education institutions. In 2017, Haaland also partnered with her state’s LGBTQ+ leaders to help pass a ban on conversion therapy in the state, and also traveled to Standing Rock to remain in solidarity with Native peoples.
Having acted as the first Native American woman in the country to chair a state party, Haaland is looking to push Democratic issues to the forefront in her upcoming campaign. Haaland is set to run in a predominantly blue district, and plans to showcase her opposition to Trump on the basis of policy difference. Topics including climate change, renewable energy, national monument preservation, and education are all subjects central to voters in the Southwest Region.
In order to strive for her own success in the campaign, Haaland is looking to return to her political roots by engaging and mobilizing Native voters. “There have been elections in New Mexico where the Native population has actually made a huge difference in who got elected,” she has said. “We’ll do all we can to make sure we get those folks out to vote. Those of us who are on the front lines working to ensure that we have a robust program to get voters out, it’s up to us to engage people and make sure they know and understand that it’s their right and we’ll do everything we can to get people registered and to the polls.”
Haaland’s campaign places her among a reported number of nearly 40 Native American women who have become active in political races throughout this election season alone. Her unique placement at the intersection of tribal, as well as local and state, politics positions Haaland in a way that would allow her to truly advocate for a population that has long been neglected. Not only that, but she would also be breaking down gender barriers at the same time.
“I just felt like my voice—considering the fact that we’ve never had a Native American woman in Congress—might be a voice at the table that Congress has never heard,” she says. “I could bring something significant to decision making.”
Learn more about Haaland’s campaign by visiting https://debforcongress.com.