Summary

A record number of Indigenous candidates, including a significant number of Native women, are running for political offices across the United States in the 2020 elections, aiming to increase representation and address Indigenous issues in government.

Abstract

The 2020 U.S. elections have seen a historic surge in Indigenous candidates, with 146 Natives running for various political positions, ranging from local to federal levels. This unprecedented participation is highlighted by the candidacy of figures like Jackie Fielder, a young Indigenous-Latina woman challenging established politicians in California. The elections could potentially see the number of Native American members in the U.S. House of Representatives rise to five, with candidates like Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids, who made history in 2018 as the first Native American women in Congress, seeking re-election. The rise in Indigenous representation also includes local races where candidates like Gabriella Cázares-Kelly and Remi Bald Eagle are focusing on issues directly affecting Indigenous communities, such as voter suppression and environmental protection. The increase in younger candidates and the formation of new political groups like the Aloha ʻĀina Party, which promotes traditional Hawaiian values, reflect a broader movement towards more diverse and inclusive governance.

Opinions

The article suggests that the election of Indigenous candidates could significantly impact the visibility and prioritization of Indigenous issues in government affairs.
The candidacy of Indigenous women is seen as a continuation of the momentum built from the 2018 midterm elections, where Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids were first elected to Congress.
Paulette Jordan's potential election as Idaho's first female senator and the first Native American woman in the U.S. Senate is viewed as a groundbreaking step for Indigenous representation.
The article emphasizes the importance of local races, such as the Pima County Recorder position, in addressing specific Indigenous community needs, like re-opening an early voting site on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation.
Remi Bald Eagle's campaign for the South Dakota Public Utility Commission is presented as a direct response to infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL pipeline, which are opposed by Indigenous communities.
The formation of the Aloha ʻĀina Party and the candidacy of Jonathan Ho’omanawanui are seen as efforts to preserve Hawaiian heritage and promote traditional values in politics, despite skepticism from some quarters.
The article highlights the underestimation of younger candidates like Jackie Fielder, who has gained significant support and contributions despite initial doubts about her campaign.

Candidate Jackie Fielder (D) campaigning for California’s State House District 11 seat in San Francisco, Oct. 12. (@JackieFielder_/Instagram)

There Are a Record Number of Indigenous Candidates This Year. Here’s a Few to Watch.

A total of 146 Natives are in races big and small, making their voices heard nationwide and in 10 states.

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A record number of Indigenous candidates, including a historic number of Native women, could be elected to offices nationwide on Tuesday, in what would close the gap on the invisibility of Indigenous issues in government affairs.

An unprecedented 146 Native candidates are running as Democrat, Republican, Independent, and of the newly formed Aloha ʻĀina Party, for seats available across the House of Representatives and the Senate, and onto less-observed political contests that could have a significant impact for Indian Country.

Of those candidates, 79 are Indigenous women building on the midterm elections of two years ago which saw for the first time, two Native American women, Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), in New Mexico, and Sharice Davids, (Ho-Chunk), in Kansas, make history when they were elected to the U.S. House. Before then, no Indigenous women had been elected to Congress. Both are expected to be re-elected, Tuesday.

In Idaho, Paulette Jordan, a tribal citizen of the Coeur D’Alene Tribe, will be the state’s first female senator, if elected, and the first Native American woman in U.S. Senate history. Jordan’s hopeful victory will also mark the first time in more than 40 years that Idaho has had a Democratic senator.

First-time candidates Tricia Zunker (Ho-Chunk), in Wisconsin, and Lynette Grey Bull (Northern Arapaho / Hunkpapa Lakota), in Wyoming, are vying to join Haaland and Davids in the House.

More likely to take that post is Democrat Kaiali’i “Kai” Kahele, the Native Hawaiian front-runner for Hawaii’s U.S. House District 2. If he wins, it could be the first time that the U.S. House would have five Native American members should Haaland, Davids, and two other candidates, Tom Cole (Chickasaw) and Markwayne Mullin (Cherokee), both from Oklahoma, secure re-election, as anticipated.

Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico), left, and Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) celebrate at a reception in Washington, D.C., after being sworn into the 116th Congress on January 3, 2019. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

In lesser-known races, Native candidates are targeting specific wins in local to hyperlocal offices that speak directly to Indigenous causes — many issues addressed by Rep. Haaland and Rep. Davids in their roles as congresswomen.

The battleground state of Arizona could see Gabriella Cázares-Kelly (Tohono O’odham) triumph in the little-known race for Pima County Recorder.

Cázares-Kelly would become the first Indigenous person to hold the office, which has been governed by the same elected official for the last 28 years. Cázares-Kelly has campaigned on a promise that if she wins, one of her first acts as recorder will be to re-open an early voting site on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation. The location remained shuttered this election year despite languishing litigation and new safety concerns raised by Native voters about the coronavirus. Tribal communities across the state were hit hard by the pandemic.

“Given the historical nature of voter suppression towards Native Americans in this country, and in Arizona in particular, it makes sense for us to address these needs of tribes, asking for something that is simply practical in their community and that they have a right to,” said Cázares-Kelly.

**For more about the lesser-known races happening in Indian Country, visit us on Instagram at @Indignous_ly**

Remi Bald Eagle, a Cheyenne River Sioux tribal leader, veteran, and water protector, is in another obscure race speaking directly to what is important to Indigenous voters — the land. He’s bidding for a seat on the South Dakota Public Utility Commission. Historically, the three-member panel has been predominantly White. Most recently, it approved permits to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to cross through the state and near Cheyenne River lands — infrastructure the tribe strongly opposes.

“We have been putting the laws of man over nature for too long,” said Bald Eagle. “Now more than ever we need voices for our land.”

Only 13 of the 146 races are national, including the first Native Hawaiian candidate to run for Congress under the newly formed Aloha ʻĀina Party, a political group with 14 candidates in races this year, each promoting traditional Hawaiian values in politics. Some have snickered the ʻĀina off as “fantasy” — but that’s exactly why candidates like Jonathan Ho’omanawanui are running.

“The true Hawaiian heritage is phasing out right now. I think we have been watered down so much; we’ve been through so much oppression and struggle,” said Ho’omanawanui. “It’s why I’m doing this — for Ho‘oponopono, which is doing things the right way.”

The majority of Indigenous candidates this year are Democrats, and there has been an increase in the number of younger candidates.

Democrat Jackie Fielder, 26, wasn’t taken seriously when she filed to run against the most real-estate backed lawmaker in California for State Senate District 11. When the Three Affiliated Tribes citizen carried a third of the primary vote, it took many by surprise.

“I started this campaign with no money, no endorsements, and no name recognition,” Fielder told the San Francisco Weekly. Today, the queer, Indigenous-Latina water protector has raised more than $750-thousand in campaign contributions — a far cry from where she began, working two jobs and living out of her van.

Election SOS Fellows Miacel Spotted Elk and Tsanavi Spoonhunter contributed to this article.

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