It turns out that two Native American women are running for Congress in New Mexico, not one.
Democrat Deb Haaland has made her membership in Laguna Pueblo a central part of her campaign in the 1st Congressional District. But the fact that Republican Yvette Herrell in the 2nd District is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation has not been widely reported outside of the Native American press until recently.
Herrell told the Journal on Saturday that she wanted to focus her campaign on the issues and desire to serve the state, nothing else.
“I want people to vote for me because of my experience, what I bring to the table, not because I have a portion of Native American blood in me,” Herrell said. “I don’t think that qualifies me one way or another.”
An Associated Press story published on page A13 of today’s Journal covers the large number of Native American candidates for office nationwide, including Herrell.
A third Native American woman, Democrat Sharice Davids, is running for Congress in Kansas. She is a member of Ho-Chunk Nation.
If any of them wins, it will be the first time a Native American woman has been elected to the U.S. House.
