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Former US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland was elected governor of New Mexico on Tuesday, becoming the first Native American woman to lead a US state, Anadolu Agency reported.
Haaland defeated Republican candidate Gregg Hull, a 60-year-old businessman who previously served as mayor of Rio Rancho.
Her victory comes amid growing political influence among Native American voters nationwide. Indigenous communities make up approximately 12% of New Mexico’s population.
An enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo, a federally recognized tribal nation in west-central New Mexico, Haaland has deep roots in the state and its Indigenous communities.
Before entering national politics, she worked in tribal administration and voter outreach. Her path was shaped in part by her experience as a single mother who relied on public assistance before earning a law degree in her 30s.
From state politics to the US Cabinet
Haaland’s political career began with state-level milestones. After an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2014, she became the first Native American woman in US history to lead a state political party, serving as chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico from 2015 to 2017.
She gained national prominence in 2018, when she was elected to the US House of Representatives alongside a new generation of progressive lawmakers, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Haaland was one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress.
In 2021, she became the first Native American to serve as a US Cabinet secretary when then-President Joe Biden appointed her to lead the Interior Department.
During her gubernatorial campaign, Haaland pledged to improve affordability, establish a public healthcare option and reform New Mexico’s child welfare system. She also positioned herself against President Donald Trump’s policies, drawing on her experience challenging his administration in Congress.
At a campaign gathering in Portales in September, she criticised the administration’s economic policies, saying, “Donald Trump thinks he knows something about New Mexico.” She added: “We need to make life more affordable for New Mexicans because we have a president in office who has no clue how we live.”
Haaland also pledged to suspend new large-scale data center projects across New Mexico through an executive order until state lawmakers establish regulations for their development.
Campaign pledges and political background
Haaland’s name appeared in US Department of Justice files related to Jeffrey Epstein that were released earlier this year.
Local media reported that she flew on a private jet chartered by Epstein from Santa Fe to Washington, DC, in 2014, during her campaign for lieutenant governor. The flight was reportedly arranged for then-New Mexico Attorney General Gary King, who was running for governor.
A spokesperson for Haaland’s campaign said she had never interacted with Epstein and did not know how the aircraft had been chartered. The spokesperson added that she supports a full investigation into his crimes.
Her election comes in a year when a record 358 Indigenous candidates are running for local, state and federal offices across the US. They include Mary Peltola and Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, who made history by becoming the first Native American woman elected to the US Senate.
Haaland will succeed term-limited Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Haaland previously succeeded Grisham in Congress after winning New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District in 2018.
During her congressional tenure under the first Trump administration, Haaland opposed efforts to cut federal assistance programmes, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). During her campaign, she pledged to continue challenging such policies, saying she was ready to stand up to Trump again.
Native Americans gained US citizenship in 1924, but voting restrictions remained in place in several states. In New Mexico, a 1948 legal challenge by World War II veteran and Isleta Pueblo member Miguel Trujillo overturned a state provision that barred many Native Americans from voting.
