Haaland and Flanagan shatter barriers in US midterm wins during Native American Heritage Month

Native American women won historic victories in Tuesday's (Nov 3) US midterm elections, with Deb Haaland elected governor of New Mexico and Peggy Flanagan elected to the US Senate from Minnesota. Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo, is the first Native American woman elected governor of a US state. Flanagan, who is Ojibway and a member of White Earth Nation, is the first Native American woman elected to the Senate. Both wins came as Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress. This also comes as the country celebrates Native American Month to commemorate the community's achievements.

Haaland's win

Haaland was among the first two Native American women elected to the US House in 2018. In 2021, she became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, as interior secretary. Her gubernatorial campaign focused on affordability, economic security and environmental protections, including a proposed moratorium on large-scale data centres and stronger safeguards for New Mexico's natural resources.

Speaking at a casino hotel on Laguna Pueblo land near Albuquerque on Tuesday night (Nov 3), she recalled that her grandmother was taken to boarding school. Her grandparents, she said, survived a time when the federal government tried to strip them of their languages, traditions and identities. "Yet … we are still here," she said. She told children watching, including those in rural communities and on reservations, that their dreams matter.

Flanagan's win

Flanagan served in the Minnesota House before becoming lieutenant governor in 2019. Her Senate campaign centred on tribal sovereignty, federal treaty and trust responsibilities to tribal nations, and the rising cost of living.

Speaking to indigenous news outlets Wednesday (Nov 4), she said she understands her responsibility as an Anishinaabekwe in the Senate to ensure the federal government upholds treaty rights and trust responsibilities. Native people have long influenced electoral outcomes, she said, and are now running for office and winning.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew congratulated Flanagan on social media, saying Canadians are ready to rebuild the relationship with the US. Flanagan said she looks forward to working with Kinew to strengthen ties between Manitoba and Minnesota.

Other races

Data from Advanced Native Political Leadership (ANPL), shared with CBC News, show at least 359 Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian candidates ran across 36 states in 2026, up from 268 across 25 states in 2024.

Alaska's Senate race between Yup'ik politician Mary Peltola and Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan remains undecided. Alaska is still counting ballots under ranked-choice voting, and early reports show a close contest. Results are expected at the end of November as mail-in ballots arrive. Peltola became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress in 2022.

In Oklahoma, Chickasaw candidate N'kiyla Jasmine Thomas lost her Senate bid to Republican Kevin Hern. In Kansas, Sharice Davids, a member of Ho-Chunk Nation, won re-election to the US House. She and Haaland were the two Native American women elected to Congress in 2018.

ANPL senior director Jordan James Harvill said the wins reflect a growing movement of Native women seeking office. He said Native women do the hidden work that holds communities together and that the victories show they belong in the country as well as being capable of leadership.