At Last, We May Get Our First Native American Woman In Congress

WASHINGTON ― Deb Haaland wishes people could just ignore President Donald Trump.

“Every time he says something stupid, it gets on the front page,” said Haaland. “We need to be talking about climate change. We need to be talking about oil companies wanting to lease land, like my ancestral homeland in Chaco Canyon, so they can frack there.”

If she gets her way, Haaland, 57, will soon have a powerful platform for keeping people focused on these issues. She’s running for Congress.

A single mom based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Haaland isn’t new to politics. She chaired the state’s Democratic Party from 2015 to 2017, and was the Native American vote director for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2012. That’s in addition to nearly two decades of volunteering on Democratic campaigns, and a failed bid for lieutenant governor in 2014.

But if she wins her race, it will be her first time in the House and the House’s first time having someone like her. An enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, Haaland would be the first Native American woman to serve in Congress.


Source : Hhuffingtonpost