Native American women win historic races for U.S. Senate, New Mexico governor and Navajo Nation president

What happened

This week's elections produced several firsts for Native American women at the tribal, state and federal levels, The Associated Press reported in a story carried by ABC News and PBS NewsHour. Peggy Flanagan became the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate, and Deb Haaland became the first to win a state governorship. Crystalyne Curley was elected the first woman president of the Navajo Nation.

According to the AP, the same elections also brought the nation's first Black female governor and the first openly gay man and first Muslim elected to the Senate. The AP described the results as a turning point for Native women, whose leadership in families and communities has rarely led to formal political power. More results are collected on our elections page.

Firsts in the Senate and a governor's office

Flanagan heads to the Senate

Flanagan, a Minnesota Democrat, is a citizen of the White Earth Nation and the state's outgoing lieutenant governor. The AP reported that more than 230 years after the Senate was established, only four Native people have served in the chamber, all of them men. At her victory celebration in St. Paul, Flanagan said, "I could not run for the U. S. Senate without Native women."

Flanagan will join Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Cole, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, the AP reported. If Democrat Mary Peltola, a Yup'ik woman, wins Alaska's unsettled Senate race, it would be the first time three Native people have served in the chamber at the same time. ABC News results showed Peltola at 48.2% and Republican D. Sullivan at 47.9%, with 74% of the expected vote reporting.

Haaland wins in New Mexico

Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo citizen, will be the first female Native governor of a U.S. state, according to the AP. She was one of the first two Native women elected to Congress in 2018 and later became the first Native American to lead a U.S. Cabinet agency, the Interior Department. The AP reported she faces campaign promises to make life more affordable for New Mexicans and to address persistently poor education outcomes in the state.

A first for the Navajo Nation

Curley's narrow win

Curley narrowly defeated attorney Justin Jones, according to unofficial results cited by the AP. She previously was the first woman to lead the tribe's legislative branch as speaker of the tribal council. Curley told the AP she faced sexist rhetoric while campaigning and expects to be held to a higher standard.

The AP reported that the modern, centralized Navajo government has been led by men since it was set up under federal pressure over a century ago. The Navajo Nation spans 27,000 square miles in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the largest land base of any federally recognized tribe, and is second in population to the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.

Plans for the new administration

After Curley and her running mate Chris Deschene take office in January, they plan to move the Navajo Nation away from coal development, historically a major economic engine for the tribe, the AP reported. They also plan to reassert the tribe's leading role in national discussions on federal Indian policy.

Other Native candidates who won

The Seneca Nation of Indians in western New York also elected its first woman president, longtime council member Tina Abrams, on Tuesday, according to the AP. In the House, Kansas Democrat Sharice Davids, who is Ho-Chunk, and Oklahoma Republican Josh Brecheen, who is Choctaw, won reelection.

New York Democrat Claire Valdez, a citizen of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, and Michigan Democrat Sean McCann, a citizen of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, became the first Native Americans elected to represent their states in Congress, the AP reported. Jordan James Harvill, a strategist with the advocacy group Advance Native Political Leadership, told the AP, "This is a seismic shift that is happening in our communities." For more national coverage, visit our Nation section.

What to watch next

• The outcome of Alaska's unsettled Senate race between Mary Peltola and Republican D. Sullivan, which ABC News showed with 74% of the expected vote reporting.
• Whether a Peltola win results in three Native people serving in the Senate at the same time for the first time.
• Curley and her running mate Chris Deschene taking office in January.
• The new Navajo administration's planned shift away from coal development.