Two Native American women made history Tuesday night in the 2026 midterm elections, winning a Senate seat and a governorship — both firsts for Native women — as Democrats swept races across the country.
In New Mexico, former Secretary of State for the Interior Deb Haaland was elected governor, making her the first Native American woman elected to lead a U.S. state. In Minnesota, Lt.-Gov. Peggy Flanagan became the first Native American female senator.
Haaland, a citizen of Laguna Pueblo, was already the first Native American to serve as cabinet secretary. She defeated Republican Gregg Hull, a former mayor of Rio Rancho, in the race for governor.
Flanagan, an enrolled member of White Earth Nation, defeated Republican Michele Tafoya, a former conservative sportscaster and commentator.
Getty Images 
Who are they?
Haaland has scored many firsts. She became the first Native American woman to chair a state political party in 2015 when she was elected head of the New Mexico Democratic Party. In 2018, she became one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress, alongside Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas, who was re-elected Tuesday. Haaland then served as former President Joe Biden’s Secretary of the Interior from 2021 to January 2025.
On the runway, she talked about raising her daughter alone, selling homemade salsa and sometimes relying on food stamps.
“My story is much like that of many New Mexicans: humble beginnings,” she told a congregation in Rio Rancho in October.
Flanagan got her start as an organizer, then served on the Minneapolis school board and led the Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota. She was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2015 and has served as lieutenant governor since 2019, where she helped reshape Minnesota’s relationship with the state’s 11 tribal nations.
Raised by a single mother in Section 8 housing, Flanagan suffered from childhood asthma that kept her in and out of hospitals. She is a strong supporter of Medicaid, saying it “saved her life.”
What do they represent?
Haaland has leaned on the cost of living, protecting New Mexico’s universal child care program and overhauling its child welfare system. She also criticized President Trump cuts to federal safety net programs. She promised to issue an executive order on day one to halt construction of new large-scale data centers until the state Legislature passes the guardrails.
Flanagan relied on her own education to connect with voters who feel financially squeezed. She presented herself as a progressive, supporting “Medicare for All” and nationally paid family and medical leave.
“Minnesota, you just beat Donald Trump again,” Flanagan told supporters Tuesday night at his election watch party in St. Paul, where White Earth leaders played a victory song on a drum.
Why is this important?
The National Congress of American Indians, the nation’s oldest and largest association of tribal governments, called the victories historic milestones for Indian Country. Native American women make up about 1 percent of the U.S. population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, but they have long been underrepresented in elected office.
“Long before Native women were welcomed into the halls of government, they were leading our nations, protecting our families, and shaping the future of Indian Country,” NCAI Executive Director Larry Wright Jr. said in a statement to CBS News.
“For young Native girls in Indian Country, these victories send an important message that their voices matter, their leadership is essential, and they belong wherever possibilities are reimagined,” Wright said.
He added that he hopes the representation will result in “meaningful progress,” particularly in protecting tribal lands and honoring treaty obligations between the U.S. government and tribal nations.
A third Native American woman could soon join Haaland and Flanagan in making midterm election history. In Alaska, Democrats Marie Peltolawho is Yup’ik, is in a Senate race with incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan that remains a tie, according to CBS News estimates. The outcome may not be decided until the picks are ranked later this month.
Gn usa
