An Election Generations in the Making

By Bella Davis, New Mexico in Depth Deb Haaland, an enrolled member of Laguna Pueblo who describes herself as a 35th-generation New Mexican, made history on Nov. 3 when she was elected the first Native American governor of New Mexico in its nearly 115 years as a state and the first Native American woman elected governor in the history of the United States. “In our nation’s 250th year, I stand before you as the first Native American woman…” she said on election night before being drowned out by an ecstatic crowd of hundreds at Laguna Pueblo-owned Route 66 Casino Hotel west of Albuquerque. “It’s not only about history. It’s about our future.” Powered by a tsunami of fundraising that shattered the state’s previous record for a gubernatorial candidate and a national profile burnished by time as a member of Congress and as US Interior secretary, Haaland, 65, defeated Republican Gregg Hull, a former Rio Rancho mayor. Haaland ran for governor largely on an affordability agenda.

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