If Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are elected this fall, not only would a woman of color lead the country for the first time, but a Native woman would govern a state for the first time in U.S. history too.
Peggy Flanagan, the lieutenant governor of Minnesota and a citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, is poised to serve as the state’s next governor should Walz step down to accept the role of vice president of the United States.
As Graham Lee Brewer explained for AP, her rise to power has been watched closely by Indigenous peoples in Minnesota and across the country who see her as a champion of policies that positively affect Native Americans.
In recent years, Minnesota has integrated tribal consultation into numerous aspects of the state government, created one of the country’s first state offices for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives and strengthened its laws protecting Native children in the adoption system.
Many Indigenous leaders point to Flanagan as the driving force behind these changes, as well as a significant rise in respect for tribal sovereignty and autonomy in state policy.
Flanagan has been the highest-ranking Native American statewide official in the U.S. since she was elected as lieutenant governor in 2018.
That position is often performed behind the scenes, but Walz and Flanagan have said they chose instead to govern as partners. Their administration has bolstered government-to-government relationships with tribal nations in Minnesota and many in Indian Country see Flanagan as a key figure in a new era of politics with Native women at the forefront.
