Kalle Benallie
ICT
There are 14 Native candidates that are up for election on June 9. The states having primaries are Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina.
One of Maine’s top issues is recognizing tribal sovereignty. The Wabanaki Nations has been working on state legislation for current Gov. Janet Mills, Democrat, to sign. Nine gubernatorial candidates, none republican, participated in the tribe’s forum.
“We’ve had multiple opportunities to send [legislation] to the governor’s desk and not just party line votes,” said Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance and former Penobscot ambassador. “We generally have Democratic support, but we have gotten Republicans voting on these issues too. So, the governor has seen some great bipartisan work reach her desk and has still decided to veto some of these efforts.”
There are three Maine candidates: April Fournier, Diné, running for Maine House of Representatives; Aaron Dana, Passamaquoddy, running for Maine State Senate; Paige Loud, Cherokee Nation, running for U.S. House of Representatives.
There are four candidates in Nevada: Christian Soloman, Native Hawaiian, running for Clark County Commission; Allycia Murphy, Lumbee, running for Las Vegas Municipal Court; Maria Teresa Hank, Native Hawaiian, running for Nevada State Assembly; Calvin Sandoval, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, running for Nevada State Senate.
Two other candidates’ primaries were cancelled but will be running in the general election. Shea Backus, Cherokee, is running for Nevada State Assembly and Brian Wadsworth, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, is running for Washoe County Commissioner.
Then in South Carolina Fawn Pedalino, Natchez-Kusso Tribe, is advancing to the general election as the only republican candidate. Pedalina is running for reelection in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Tribal leaders from the Catawba Nation told ICT they haven’t heard from the Democrats or Republicans. There are also no polling stations located on their lands, which are south of Charlotte, South Carolina.
“I think by having a poll in place on our reservation, even though there might be one, 5, 10 minutes away, it’s not here in our community,” Brian Harris, chairman of the Catawba Nation, said. “It’s not a minute away. It’s not two minutes away. For that reason alone, I think it’s very advantageous for our tribe to have a polling place on our reservation.”
There are seven candidates in North Dakota: Jerry “JR” Kerzmann, MHA Nation, running for McLean County Sheriff; Jesse Baker, MHA Nation, running for New Town City Council; Collette Brown, Spirit Lake Nation, running for North Dakota House of Representatives; Duane Poitra, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, running for North Dakota House of Representatives; Jayme Davis, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, running for North Dakota House of Representatives; Richard Marcellais, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, running for North Dakota State Senate; Justin “Jake” Eagle, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, running for Sioux County Commission.
