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Kevin Abourezk
ICT
Across the country, Native candidates fared well in the Nov. 5 general election with nearly 72 percent of the 176 Indigenous candidates seeking office having won their races, according to data gathered by ICT in partnership with Advance Native Political Leadership.
Nearly 61 percent of Indigenous candidates in the general election were incumbents, and 91 percent of incumbents won their races.
Native candidates ran for office in 24 states with Arizona having the most Native candidates at 25, Hawai’i second at 23, and New Mexico at 15.
Other findings from the 2024 Indigenous Candidates Database created by ICT and Advance Native Political Leadership include:
- Nearly 58 percent of the 176 Indigenous candidates were cisgender women. In addition, nonbinary and transgender candidates made up 2 percent. Cisgender men made up 40 percent of those candidates.
- Nearly 72 percent of Native women candidates won their races. This is consistent with previous years: in 2022, 59 percent of Native women who ran won their elections. Among male candidates, more than 70 percent won their races, but just one of the three nonbinary or transgender Native candidates won their race.
- In terms of party affiliation, 52 percent of Native candidates were Democrats, 12 percent were Republicans, 2 percent were independents and 34 percent were nonpartisan.
- 78 percent of Democratic candidates won their races, 62 percent of Republicans won, all 3 independents won and 60 percent of nonpartisan candidates won.
Arizona
While it is difficult to gauge how Native voters voted in each state, a political organization in Arizona offered a glimpse into how voters on tribal lands in that state voted.
According to the Northeast Arizona Democrats, voters on tribal lands in Arizona voted largely for Vice President Kamala Harris for president with 80 percent of those voters choosing Harris over former president and now president-elect Donald Trump.
Voters on tribal lands in Arizona also turned out big for U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, with 83 percent voting for Gallego for Senate over his Republican opponent Kari Lake. Gallego ultimately won the race. Gallego made the Native vote a priority for his Senate campaign, and even made his first campaign stop on sovereign lands in January 2023. VoteVets released campaign ads in the Navajo language for Gallego that featured Diné Bizaad.
In addition, nearly 90 percent of voters on tribal lands in Arizona supported former Navajo president Jonathan Nez in his race for Congress. Nez, who would have been the first Native person to represent Arizona in Congress, lost his race to Republican District 2 incumbent Eli Crane.
“As we mourn our losses on a national scale, we can still take heart in the progress we have made together,” said the Northeast Arizona Democrats in a statement.
Congressional candidates
Nine Native candidates sought seats within the U.S. House of Representatives this year. Of those, three won their races, and, including Nez, six lost their races.
Kansas District 3 House Democratic incumbent Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, won her race against Republican Prasnath Reddy and independent Steve Roberts. In Oklahoma, both Republican incumbent Native candidates won their races, including Josh Brecheen, Choctaw – who defeated Democrat Brandon Wade and independent Ronnie Hopkins – and Tom Cole, Chickasaw – who defeated Democrat Mary Brannon and independent James Stacy.
Dennis Baker, Muscogee, Democrat, sought and lost his race for the District 1 seat in Oklahoma to his Republican opponent Kevin Hern. Sharon Clahchischilliage, Diné and Republican, lost her race for the District 3 seat in New Mexico to her Democratic opponent Teresa Lever Fernandez.
Yvette Herrell, Cherokee and Republican, lost her race for the District 2 seat in New Mexico to Democrat Gabriel Vasquez, and Madison Horn, Cherokee, Democrat, lost her race for the District 5 seat in Oklahoma to Republican Dennis Bice.
In Alaska, U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, Yup’ik, lost her race to her Republican challenger Nick Begich.
In two battleground states where the Native vote had the potential to decide two Senate races, Elissa Slotkin, Democrat, won her race in Michigan against Republican Mike Rogers, while Tim Sheehy, Republican, defeated Democratic incumbent Jon Tester in the Senate race in Montana.
In other states where the Native vote was considered vital in the presidential race, Trump defeated Harris in Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan and Montana.
Although Harris’ record of Indigenous issues has been mixed, she made strides for Indigenous voters. She chose Walz as her running mate, who has a strong record working with tribal nations with the help of Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, White Earth Nation. Harris also launched the Native American Engagement program and helped relaunch the White House Tribal Nations Summit after the Trump administration halted the event during his term.
Trump also has made his case for the Native vote.
In September, the former president promised to federally recognize the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. In 2019, the Trump administration issued an executive order to establish a task force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives.
In Arizona and North Carolina, Trump and Harris actively sought Native voters, with Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, visiting Window Rock, Ariz. – the capital of the Navajo Nation – a day after President Joe Biden’s Oct. 25 visit to the Gila River Indian Community, where he issued a long-awaited apology to Native Americans for the country’s boarding school history. On Halloween, Harris held a rally in Arizona.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Cherokee, traveled to Arizona, as well as Nevada and North Carolina, to ask Native voters to cast their ballots for Trump.
In North Carolina, Harris called the chairman of the Lumbee Tribe in North Carolina on Oct. 23 to talk about the tribe’s federal recognition efforts. The tribe’s 55,000 citizens make up the largest Indigenous nation east of the Mississippi.
Donald Trump Jr. and Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Cherokee, met with Lumbee leaders as well. Former president Trump gave his support for the tribe’s federal recognition in 2020.
For more information about Native political candidates who sought office in 2024, visit the Indigenous Candidates Database, a partnership between ICT and Advance Native Political Leadership. The database is a continuation of the Indigenous candidate database started by ICT editor-at-large Mark Trahant nearly a decade ago.
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