Minnesota has elected Peggy Flanagan, the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate, according to the Associated Press. Flanagan, a Democrat and Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, won the open seat in the November 3 election. Only four Native people have ever served in the chamber, all of them men, the AP reports.
At a glance
- Result: Flanagan led Republican Michele Tafoya 53.7 percent to 43.6 percent with 99 percent of the vote counted, FOX 9 reports.
- Milestone: The AP calls Flanagan the first Native American woman elected to the Senate, and she is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation.
- Wider wave: Native women also won firsts in the Navajo Nation, the Seneca Nation, and New Mexico’s governor’s race.
Who Peggy Flanagan is
Flanagan is a two-term lieutenant governor who was first elected in 2018 alongside Gov. Tim Walz, the Minnesota Reformer reports. She won a seat in the state House in 2015. She also served on the Minneapolis school board and led the Children’s Defense Fund of Minnesota.
She takes the seat of Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, who did not seek reelection. Her opponent was Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter and conservative podcaster. Polls had shown a tight race before Election Day.
Flanagan is 47 and ran on progressive policies, including Medicare for All, CBS News reports. She won the August primary against U.S. Rep. Angie Craig. She said she could not have run for the Senate without Native women, the AP reports.
The first Native American woman elected to the Senate
The Associated Press called the race for Flanagan at 12:07 a.m. EST on November 4. CBS News also projected her win. Final results remain subject to certification, FOX 9 reports.
Native Americans have been scarce in the chamber. Only four have served there, and none was a woman, the AP says.
More firsts for Native women
Flanagan was not alone. Crystalyne Curley was elected the first woman president of the Navajo Nation, and Tina Abrams became the first woman president of the Seneca Nation of Indians in western New York, according to an AP report on Native women’s wins.
The same report says Deb Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo citizen who once led the U.S. Interior Department, won New Mexico’s governor’s race. She is set to become the first Native woman to lead a U.S. state. In the House, Claire Valdez of New York and Sean McCann of Michigan became the first Native Americans elected to represent their states in Congress.
What is still unsettled
Flanagan has not yet taken office, and her result is not certified. Curley won narrowly over attorney Justin Jones, and her result is still unofficial.
Curley takes office in January. Some Navajo people believe traditional teachings bar women from the top office, while others point to the matrilineal roots of Diné society, the AP says.
Alaska’s Senate race was still undecided in the AP’s November 10 report. If Democrat Mary Peltola wins, two Native women would serve in the chamber at once.
Read more
For more on this story, see: The Associated Press
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- First openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate, Chris Pappas
- First Muslim senator, Abdul El-Sayed, wins in Michigan
- The Good News for Humankind archive on racial justice wins
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