In a historic victory, Deb Haaland has become the first female Native American governor in New Mexico – and the entire country.
She defeated Republican opponent Gregg Hull, former mayor of Rio Rancho. Haaland won 57.2% of the vote in unofficial results from AP, which made the race call at 8:40 p.m.
Hundreds of supporters gathered at Route 66 Casino Tuesday night to celebrate. Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, pointed to the significance of holding the celebration on Pueblo land.
“I remember carrying water from the community spigot and playing outside from sunrise to sunset, spending time in my grandfather’s cornfield, helping him irrigate,” she said. “And just off this road, my grandmother was taken away to boarding school. Yet we are still here.”
In 2018, Haaland was one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress. Then she became the first Native American Cabinet secretary, running President Joe Biden’s Department of the Interior. Charles Curtis, from the Kaw Nation, was the first Native Cabinet member as President Herbert Hoover’s vice president.
Oklahoma was the only state to elect a tribal citizen for governor — Democrat Johnston Murray in the 1950s and current Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt.
During her time at Interior, she created the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative to investigate the history of federal Indian boarding school policies, including facility locations, student deaths, unmarked burial sites, and intergenerational impacts of trauma.
Haaland pledged to pursue stronger public education, repair the troubled Children, Youth, and Families Department, address violent crime and fentanyl, and expand access to healthcare.
“New Mexicans are tired of having to travel hours outside of their communities just to access basic healthcare,” she said. “I will create a path toward universal healthcare.”
Haaland will replace Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is term-limited, on January 1st. She promised one of her first actions would be to sign an executive order to create a statewide moratorium on new large-scale data centers until the Legislature can pass a bill curtailing them.
Gregg Hull congratulated Haaland on her win Tuesday night and described the race as a “David and Goliath situation.” Haaland raised more than $20 million, including from numerous small donors. That was nearly 10 times the amount Hull did.
The contest was mostly cordial, and Hull praised his campaign staff Tuesday night for keeping it positive. Hull did criticize Haaland for backing out of a debate on KOB-TV in October. She said she had a prior commitment to meet with farmers and ranchers in southern New Mexico.
Hull said he does not have immediate plans, but that he wants to be “in service” somewhere in New Mexico.
Daniel Montaño and the Associate Press contributed to this story.
