ALBUQUERQUE – Democrat Debra Haaland has defeated Republican Janice E. Arnold-Jones in a New Mexico U.S. House race, becoming one of the first Native American women elected to Congress and keeping an open seat under Democratic control.
Libertarian Lloyd J. Princeton also was seeking to represent the district that includes Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city. The seat was open because incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham opted to run for New Mexico governor.
Haaland is an enrolled Laguna Pueblo member. She was one of a three Native American women seeking to become among the first elected to Congress on Tuesday. Democrat Sharice Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, won a U.S. House seat in Kansas.
“New Mexico made history tonight,” Haaland said. “I want to thank every single person who poured their heart and soul into this campaign. Congress has never heard a voice like mine, but when the 116th session of Congress begins, they will hear my voice.”
Republican Yvette Herrell, a member of the Cherokee Nation, is in a hotly contested race for another open U.S. House seat in New Mexico against Democrat Xochitl Torres Small.
Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan has won a sixth term representing northern New Mexico’s 3rd District.
He defeated Republican Jerald Steve McFall and Libertarian Chris Manning on Tuesday. Lujan campaigned on efforts to advance immigration reform, expand Medicaid and address climate change.
Lujan has spearheaded efforts since 2014 to cut short Republican control of Congress as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He has long pushed for congressional candidates, like Haaland and Davids, from diverse backgrounds.
Haaland vastly outraised her opponents and her win comes as President Donald Trump has repeatedly called U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” over her claims the senator from Massachusetts has Native American ancestry.
Haaland’s candidacy gained national attention during the Democratic primary and excited Native Americans across the country. The Winslow, Arizona-born activist defeated a crowded field of mainly Hispanic candidates in a state with the largest percentage of Latino residents.
Her primary victory came almost 50 years to the day after Robert F. Kennedy won South Dakota’s Democratic presidential primary thanks to the Native American vote on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Arnold-Jones sparked controversy after questioning Haaland’s Native American heritage during a Fox News interview. The Republican said Haaland was a “military brat” who didn’t grow up on an American Indian reservation.
Democrats denounced those comments as bigoted and ill-informed.
