Amelia Schafer
ICT
A Potawatomi man has made history in Michigan’s Fourth Congressional District.
In addition to being the first Native American to represent Michigan in Congress, Sean McCann, Citizen Potawatomi Nation and a Democrat, flipped a seat held by republicans for nearly a century.
“I think people were looking for a change, looking for a new direction from the policies they’ve gotten out of Washington in the last two years,” McCann said during a press conference on Nov. 4 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
McCann, 55, defeated eight-term incumbent U.S. Rep. BIll Huizenga by just 1.78 percentage points – 6,492 votes. McCann’s win marks the first time a Democrat will represent Michigan’s Fourth Congressional District since 1933.
Michigan’s Fourth Congressional District includes the lands of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, one of nine federally recognized Potawatomi Nations.
McCann said he was excited to be able to represent Michigan’s Fourth Congressional district.
“It’s one day post election, but we’re going to be making plans to be everywhere in the district and meet all the folks we can,” McCann said.
McCann is one of two Anishinaabe people (Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Odawa) who won their races to join the United States Congress this week, alongside Peggy Flanagan, White Earth Ojibwe and the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
McCann, a former Michigan state house representative and senator, is also one of five Native American people elected to the U.S. House on Tuesday. He joins the newly elected Rep. Claire Valdez, D-N.Y., Ysleda del sur Pueblo, and re-elected incumbents Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, Ho-Chunk, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., Chickasaw Nation and Rep. Josh Brecheen, Choctaw, R-Okla.
McCann campaigned on addressing the affordability crisis across America. He promised to fight to lower everyday costs while creating new good-paying jobs in southwestern Michigan.
“I think young people turned out because they’ve been concerned about their futures and they felt that folks like me were showing that we were concerned about their futures,” McCann said. “In terms of affordable housing, in terms of national debt, social security and medicare being available for young people that are just starting out their careers.”
