Record number of indigenous people in US elections, says human rights group

In this week’s election in the United States there was a record number of Native Americans, according to the American organization that monitors elected officials of Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Hawaiians, but says that representation is still far from over.

Jordan James Harvill, national program director of Advance Native Political Leadership (ANPL), said there are about 520,000 offices nationally, from school boards to president, and Natives will need to take about 17,000 seats to reach them. basic equality.

ANPL followed 250 indigenous candidates who ran in this election in 25 states at the federal, state, and local levels.

Most, he said, were running at the local level, and overall, representation has increased by 300 percent since 2016.

“We’re in a big time in Indian country,” Harvill said.

At the government level, representation is low. He said that only 27 people who call themselves Native Americans have ever served in Congress, including the House of Representatives and the Senate. In this election, there were nine Native Americans who ran for the House of Representatives.

Oklahoma incumbent Tom Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, won his congressional race. The Republican congressman is the longest serving Native American in the House of Representatives.

He did not respond to a request for comment.

“I am happy to congratulate President Trump and his Republican Senate colleagues on their great victory! As we continue to watch the House elections, I remain optimistic and look forward to a bright future for the American people,” he wrote on X on Wednesday.

Another Oklahoma Republican incumbent, Josh Brecheen, who is Choctaw, also won his seat.

“Congratulations to President Trump on his incredible victory! The American people have spoken and over the next four years we must pursue policies that protect our border, grow our economy, and limit the growth of government,” he wrote on X.

Incumbent Democrat Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, won her fourth term in Kansas’ 3rd District.

Some races are too close to call. Such is the case with Jonathan Nez, a Navajo, in Arizona and Mary Peltola in Alaska. Peltola, who is Yup’ik, was the first Alaska Native to be elected last term.

Nez thanked supporters online.

“We see the history of people coming from tribal communities,” he wrote on X on Thursday.

“We removed many from this election, our work is not finished, we will wait for the final counting of votes, which is still going on.”

ANPL endorsed Kamala Harris, while Harvill expressed disappointment with the results of the presidential election.

“I think we have a lot of work to do,” said Harvill.

“This administration – the policies we’re going to put in place – may be some of the toughest things we’ve seen on Aboriginal people in decades.”

However, he said that representation is important in order to have an impact on the lives of the people every day.

“We had very little representation,” he said.

“Most of our elected local and state leaders and even in Congress do not have the idea that there are even indigenous people in their region… The mere presence of indigenous communities at the table means that our issues are changing.”