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Jordan First Native American Woman to Hit Campaign Trail for Governor

December 18, 2017 By Bob Petersen

Paulette Jordan is campaigning to be the Governor of Idaho.

This is Trahant Reports.

There have been very few Native Americans who have ever run for office at that level (I can think of three: Alaska’s Byron Mallott, Idaho’s Larry EchoHawk, and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota).

Now add Jordan to that list. And she’s the first Native woman who has the audacity to ask citizens to run their state. Yay!

She also already has winning over conservative Idaho voters. Two years ago when Democrats were losing races across the country, she captured her second term as a state representative, winning by a margin of 290 votes. That might not sound like a lot, but she won during a Republican wave.

Jordan is a citizen of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe.

She grew up in a farming family, Jordan says her grandparents showed her that cultivating the land was a continuation of our ancestral traditions of caring for homelands. The Coeur d’Alene peoples have cared for Idaho homelands since time immemorial and Idahoans today practice the same combination of self-sufficiency and cooperation that her grandparents once did. She told her constituents: This is what connects us to each other.

At her announcement, Jordan said, “when asked, ‘what are you going to do next to improve this world?’” She answered: “I am going to run for governor.”

Idaho once regularly elected Democrats to state office, including former Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus (who won office a record four times). These days it’s a super-majority Republican state. But things change. Idaho is also a state where the legendary National Congress of American Indians President Joe Garry served in the state senate and was a candidate for the U.S. Senate. It’s where Jeannie Givens served in the legislature and she ran for the U.S. House of Representatives (in fact, likely the first Native woman to do so). Both Garry and Givens are Coeur d’Alene tribal members. It’s also a state that that elected Larry EchoHawk, a Pawnee, first to the legislature, and later as Idaho’s state’s Attorney General. EchoHawk did lose a bid for governor. And, so yes, it’s an uphill climb for Jordan. But it’s not impossible.

One telling story about Jordan is that she lost her first race for the legislature in 2012 by less than a hundred-fifty votes. She did not give up. She went right back to work — and won two years later.

Jordan said there is even an advantage to being a member of the minority party. She said being in the majority can be insular and keep their circle small. She said: “In my family, our circle can always get bigger, and that’s what I see for Idaho. A bigger circle is what achieving justice for all looks like.”

I am Mark Trahant

Native women raising money for Congress

October 24, 2017 By Bob Petersen

Deb Haaland and Diane Benson at an Anchorage fundraiser. Haaland is running for Congress in New Mexico and Benson has been a candidate four times in Alaska. (Trahant photo)

How many Native American women have ever been elected to Congress? This is Trahant Reports.

New Mexico congressional candidate Debra Haaland is criss-crossing Indian Country. She’s determined to get her name out there — and to raise enough money to be competitive. She began last week in Milwaukee at the National Congress of American Indians and she wrapped up the week in Anchorage at the Alaska Federation of Natives.

Politics is a tough business. Most Native American candidates cannot dip into their personal wealth to run for office (at least the Democrats). It’s all about raising money five bucks at a time. A good haul is when someone writes a check with more than one zero.

Yet it’s hard to understate how important money is to a campaign.

Haaland, unlike most Native American Democrats, is running in a district with a lot of other Democrats. That means she has an excellent shot at capturing a seat in Congress — the first Native American woman to do that.

Haaland is Laguna Pueblo.

Haaland’s fundraiser in Anchorage was typical. It was much more of an introduction than a call for hard cash. That’s important. It was great to hear stories. We need that in politics. But it will take money, too. If we really want to see more Native Americans in Congress, because thousands of five-plus dollar donations will make all the difference.

At that event one of the most touching moments was when Diane Benson, who ran for Congress in Alaska against Rep. Don Young, talked about why she ran. Her son had been injured in the military and yet politicians were making war and peace decisions without an understanding of the consequences.

I have been collecting information about Congress and Native American representation. And, it turns out, I was wrong about the actual numbers. I checked this morning and according to the House of Representatives historian since March 4, 1789, there have been 10,273 people elected to that body. There has never been a Native American woman. Ever.

Here is my list of the Native American women who have at least run for Congress, starting in 1988, Jeanne Givens, a Couer d’Alene tribal member in Idaho was the first. Georgianna Lincoln in Alaska, Ada Deer, Menominee, in Wisconsin, Kalyn Free, Choctaw, in Oklahoma, Diane Benson, Tlingit, in Alaska, and Denise Juneau, Mandan Hidatsa Arikara, in Montana.

And in this election cycle, Carol Surveyor, Navajo, is running in Utah’s 2nd congressional district.

I better stick with “at least” because I am sure more names will surface. But the point remains: It’s long past time to elect the first Native American woman to Congress.

I am Mark Trahant reporting from AFN in Anchorage.

Trahant Reports – Making History, Showcasing So Much Remarkable Talent

November 7, 2016 By NV1

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No matter what happens on election day there will be Native American women making history.

This is Trahant Reports.

Denise Juneau would be the first Native American woman ever elected to Congress. (From the state that elected the first woman to Congress.)

And while Juneau is the only Native American running for Congress, if you look back at the history of women who have tried, the list is significant. Just a few: Jeanne Givens in Idaho, Ada Deer in Wisconsin, Kalyn Free in Oklahoma, and Wenona Benally and Mary Kim Titla in Arizona’s First Congressional District. You could add to that list two vice presidential nominees, Winona LaDuke and LaDonna Harris. Or the two Native American women running statewide in North Dakota, Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun and Ruth Buffalo.

Indeed, more than 37 percent of all the Native American candidates running this election are female. In Minnesota six of the seven candidates running for the Legislature are women. And three of the four Native candidates in Arizona.

Of course that number is not half, so there remains a long ways to go. But a little perspective from the data. Nationally women make up about 20 percent of Congress both in the House and in the Senate. And in state legislatures women make up 24.6 percent of those bodies, a percentage that Native American candidates could exceed.

And it’s not just the numbers: It’s the resumes, it’s the talent.

Jamescita Peshlakai (who is running unopposed in Arizona for the state senate) is Navajo and a Persian Gulf War veteran. She served in the U.S. Army for eight years. She used the G.I. Bill to get her college education, eventually earning a master’s degree in history and educational psychology. She already has legislative experience, serving in the Arizona House.

On the same ballot and in the same district, Benally is running again this time for the legislature and unopposed). “I am a Harvard Law School graduate. I also earned a master’s degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Master’s of Law from the James E. Rogers College of Law,” She recently told the story about a meeting with Bernie Sanders. She wrote:”I thanked him for inspiring a new generation of young leaders – like me – who have picked up the torch and are seeking change at the local level. His response: ‘No, thank you!’”

This story of talent is repeated from coast to coast. It’s Tawna Sanchez in Oregon. It’s Laurel Deegan-Fricke in North Carolina. And it’s Red Dawn Foster in South Dakota. (The complete list is here.)

Washington legislative candidate Sharlaine LaClair was recently featured on the cover of a national story from Refinery29: “35 Women Running For Office you should know about!”

The slide show included her picture and said: “Why you should know her: LaClair, a member of the Lummi Nation, would be one of four Native Americans in the Washington Legislature if elected.” Featured in that same slide show is Denise Juneau, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, and Paula Hawks. Pretty cool company.

I’m Mark Trahant reporting!