Idalia Lechuga-Tena, former legislator and current president of the New Mexico Federation of Democratic Women, checks the headlines at Deb Haaland’s election-night rally on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Last month’s elections elevated several Native women to public office, and New Mexicans voted in Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) as the first Native woman governor in U.S. history.
In 2018, Haaland became one of the first two Native women in Congress, alongside Sharice Davids. She then oversaw the Department of Interior under President Joe Biden, the first Indigenous woman to do so. Haaland campaigned for governor on a platform of supporting New Mexicans’ struggles for affordability, safety, healthcare and education. —B. “Toastie” Oaster
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