Meet Governor-Elect Deb Haaland

Deb Haaland’s barrier-breaking leadership came after a life like so many New Mexicans. She grew up in a military family, graduated from Highland High School in Albuquerque, and after finding sobriety, she lived paycheck to paycheck as a single mom. She worked for years at a bakery and later started a small business canning and delivering salsa because it provided the flexibility she needed to raise her young child, and childcare was too expensive.

The Governor-elect’s life shifted when she enrolled at the University of New Mexico at age 28, then later graduated from the UNM School of Law. In law school, Haaland began her public service, advocating for lasting legislation that allowed in-state tuition for members of Tribes in New Mexico. Haaland then worked as a Tribal Administrator and at a care facility for disabled adults, helping them access their benefits and services.

In 2008, a historic candidate leading a movement of “Hope” inspired Haaland to volunteer and register voters to get them out to vote. That candidate, Barack Obama, went on to win the election, and Haaland was hired as New Mexico’s Native American Vote Director for his reelection in 2012.

Serving & Delivering for New Mexico

Governor-elect Deb Haaland’s aptitude for engaging New Mexicans, listening, and meeting them where they are turned into a run for Lieutenant Governor in 2014. Though it was not a successful campaign, she did not let that slow her down – she ran and won her campaign for State Democratic Party Chair, managed the party to stabilize its finances, and led them to victory in the 2016 state elections.

With that momentum, Haaland was elected to serve New Mexico’s First Congressional District and broke barriers as one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress. During her term, she prioritized issues important to New Mexicans, including creating local clean energy jobs, securing billions for small businesses and restaurants during the pandemic, expanding access to high-speed internet, addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, and protecting thousands of acres of New Mexico’s land. She was known for working across the aisle to deliver for New Mexico, securing more bipartisan cosponsors for her legislation than nearly any House freshman in 2019, and introducing five bills signed into law by President Donald Trump—among the most of any member of the House that Congress.

Haaland was confirmed as Secretary of the Interior in 2021 with strong bipartisan support and was the first Native American cabinet secretary in our nation’s history. As Secretary, she led nearly 70,000 federal employees, an $18 billion annual budget, and worked tirelessly for New Mexicans, securing thousands of New Mexico jobs, historic local clean energy development, and water infrastructure funding, and partnering with the Department of Justice to increase safety in Indian Country. She played a pivotal role in protecting millions of acres of land nationwide, partnering with rural communities and Tribal Nations to preserve our natural resources for fishing, ranching, recreation, and more. And as someone who grew up in a rural community, Haaland partnered with New Mexico’s rural towns and villages to secure their water and address their biggest challenges.

Today, Haaland is the first Native American woman elected governor in the United States, and she is ready to deliver lower costs, safer communities, a quality public education, and accessible healthcare to all New Mexicans.

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