Deb Haaland ‘preparing' to run for New Mexico governor
Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland is 'preparing' to run for governor of New Mexico in 2026, a campaign spokesperson confirmed to Source NM on Tuesday.
If elected, Haaland would be the first Native American person to head the state government in its 113-year history. President Joe Biden in December 2020 tapped Haaland to become the first Native American ever to be a cabinet secretary. She previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives for the state's 1st Congressional District.
'Deb Haaland is of and for New Mexico,' the spokesperson said in a statement. 'She's a proven leader; she's created New Mexico jobs, brings people together, and is getting ready to run to be New Mexico's next governor. She and her team will be focused on listening and solutions that fit the needs of our communities.'
Haaland, 64, is a member of Laguna Pueblo, one of the 23 tribes located in what is now called New Mexico, which became a state millenia after Pueblo, Navajo, Apache and Ute peoples started living here. During her time in the Interior, she played a role in elevating Indian Country onto the national stage in U.S. politics, including commissioning the federal government's first-ever accounting for its role in operating boarding schools to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children.
She appeared recently at The People's March in Albuquerque, where she lambasted President Donald Trump and said, 'Our fight is not over. We will need to do the hard work of getting important things done and pushing back against an administration who couldn't care less about regular people, about people like us. We will need to unapologetically stand up to make change to ensure that your voices are heard. We need more people with real lived experiences elected to office and serving our communities as doctors, scientists, CEOs, so that solutions reflect who we are.'
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) had also been a rumored contender to succeed Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, but announced last week he will not seek the office, saying the 'stakes are simply too high' for him to leave his post in Washington, D.C.
Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Goldberg for questions: info@sourcenm.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump backs huge Arizona copper mine as Apache win late reprieve to halt it
President Trump this week threw his full support behind a massive project to turn a sacred Apache site outside Phoenix into one of the world's largest copper mines, meeting with mining executives at the White House and ridiculing a recent court decision that temporarily halted the transfer of federal lands to their companies. Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum met in the White House on Tuesday with several executives from Rio Tinto and BHP, the two multinational mining companies behind the planned Resolution Copper mine. As proposed, the mine would turn Oak Flat — a long-preserved site of rocky outcroppings and desert waterways on the edge of the Tonto National Forest — into a nearly two-mile-wide, 1,000-foot-deep industrial crater. Trump also posted about the project on his Truth Social site, calling the three-judge U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel that blocked the transfer a 'Radical Left Court' and saying it was 'sad' that 'Radical Left Activists' could stall such a project. '3,800 Jobs are affected, and our Country, quite simply, needs Copper — AND NOW!' Trump wrote. He also wrote, without evidence, that those fighting the mine are 'Anti-American' and working on behalf of 'other Copper competitive Countries.' The San Carlos Apache Tribe, which is among the plaintiffs suing to block the mine, called the court's decision a 'last minute victory' in its ongoing battle to save the land. 'The Apache people will never stop fighting for Chí'chil Biłdagoteel,' tribe Chairman Terry Rambler said in a statement, using the traditional Apache name for Oak Flat. 'We thank the court for stopping this horrific land exchange and allowing us to argue the merits of our pending lawsuit in court.' Trump's decision to directly weigh in further elevates the already large profile of a monumental legal battle. It has aligned environmental activists and religious liberty proponents, and has major implications for the nation's ability to meet its rapidly growing demand for copper, which is an essential element in telecommunications networks, electric vehicles and other growing technologies. Oak Flat was federally protected land for decades. Members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe describe it as sacred land home to spiritual guardians akin to angels, and say it has been used for coming-of-age and other tribal ceremonies for generations. In 2004, prospectors discovered that one of the world's largest copper ore deposits, estimated to hold enough copper to supply up to a quarter of U.S. demand, sat somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 feet below the surface. The battle to extract the deposit has raged ever since, but particularly since 2014, when former Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake inserted language mandating the land transfer into a last-minute defense appropriations bill. A lawsuit brought by the group Apache Stronghold and led by Apache elder Wendsler Nosie Sr. resulted in a split 9th Circuit ruling against the Apache and in favor of the mining companies in March 2024. In May, the Supreme Court declined to hear an Apache appeal of that decision, clearing the way for the U.S. Forest Service to issue a final environmental impact report and hear a last round of public comment before handing the land over to Resolution Copper. The decision marked a major loss to the mine opponents, but it did not end other lawsuits filed to stop it — including one filed by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and another by a group called the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition. On Aug. 15, a district court judge in Arizona issued an order clearing the way for the land transfer to move forward on Tuesday. The groups appealed, and the three-judge 9th Circuit panel put the district court decision on hold Monday, pending its own hearing of arguments over the transfer — one of which is that the federal government bypassed a required step in the environmental review process. The panel — composed of two Clinton appointees and one Trump appointee — said it was not taking a position on the merits of those arguments, and would 'expedite' the case, with all briefs due by Oct. 14. The court's reprieve, if only temporary, was cheered by Apache groups and other organizations whose members use the Oak Flat land for rock climbing and other recreation. Some also spoke out against Trump's remarks, calling them anti-American. Rambler, the San Carlos tribe chairman, said the mine's opponents 'are working to save the U.S. from making a disastrous decision that would give up American resources to foreign interests,' and that Trump had been 'misinformed' to think otherwise by the mine's supporters. Rambler said BHP and Rio Tinto are foreign companies with ties to Chinese state-owned companies, and will be exporting the copper taken from Oak Flat — 'likely to China.' Rambler said he looks forward 'to sitting down with the administration and providing factual information to protect American assets.' Nosie, in a statement provided to the The Times, also accused Trump of siding with foreign interests over those of indigenous Americans. 'Our nation cannot survive if we sacrifice what is sacred in pursuit of temporary profits,' he said. He said the Apache people are grateful for all of the support they have received from people of all political stripes and religious backgrounds, who he said have recognized the fight for what it is — a 'moral one.' 'If we destroy our sacred land and poison our environment, we are betraying our children and grandchildren and hurting ourselves,' he said. 'The future of the entire human race is at stake.' A Resolution Copper spokesperson said they are confident the 9th Circuit will 'ultimately affirm' the district court's 'well-reasoned' ruling in favor of the land transfer. 'Over the past 11 years, the Resolution Copper project has undergone a rigorous, independent review under the National Environmental Policy Act, led by the U.S. Forest Service. This review has included extensive consultation with numerous Native American Tribes with ancestral ties to this land, local communities, civil society organizations, and a dozen federal, state, and county agencies,' the spokesperson said. 'The collaborative process has directly led to major changes to the mining plan to preserve and reduce potential impacts on Tribal, social, environmental, and cultural interests.' The spokesperson said the project has other local support and 'the potential to become one of America's biggest copper mines, contributing $1 billion annually to Arizona's economy and creating thousands of local jobs in a region where mining has played an important role for more than a century.' Tuesday's meeting at the White House included Trump and Burgum, as well as current Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm, incoming Rio Tinto chief executive Simon Trott and BHP chief executive Mike Henry, as well as other White House officials. The Resolution Copper spokesperson said the discussion centered on 'the mining industry's capacity to deliver long-term domestic supplies of copper and other critical minerals' from the Oak Flat deposit.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Trump, Linda McMahon vow winning Long Island ‘Mascotgate' fight is a ‘top priority'
The Massapequa Chiefs have a fan in the commander in chief. The Trump administration has vowed it is a 'top priority' to protect the Massapequa High School's Native American logo — as the president himself boasted about his deep admiration for the Long Island town and its fight to protect its heritage. 'I love Massapequa. I've heard that name for years,' Trump recently told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade, a proud product of the hamlet. 3 The Trump administration's protecting of the Massapequa High School's Native American logo is a 'top priority' as President Trump has praised the school for protecting their heritage. Instagram/realdonaldtrump 'I have a lot of friends in Massapequa … We've got to get the name back to the Chiefs,' the president, who previously posed with a Massapequa sweatshirt in the Oval Office, added. He said removing mascot names like Chiefs, or in the case of fellow Long Island district Connetquot, which is embattled over the use of Thunderbirds, is 'demeaning' to Native Americans. 'It is a top priority of this Administration to protect Massapequa, Connetquot, and all Native American groups' right to celebrate and preserve their cultural heritage,' Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who in May found removing the logos to be a civil rights violation, said in a statement to The Post. McMahon, who announced the Title XI breach from Massapequa High School's gym at the time, praised the two districts 'in their continued fight against woke ideologues who are attempting to strip them of their beloved Chiefs and Thunderbirds mascots.' 'We will never back down — we will always be the Massapequa Chiefs,' school board president Kerry Wachter vowed this week of the community that is 'proud' to have federal intervention and support. Since the Trump administration's spring intervention, the Chiefs have had a renewed legal battle under new counsel, Massapequa-born lawyer and Harvard grad Oliver Roberts. 'The state is fighting us very hard,' said the president, who visited and was across from its high school for the wake of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller in March 2024. 'But I think we'll be successful with it,' added Trump, who is outwardly fond of the iconic Massapequa burger joint All American and lauded the town's 'championship' caliber athletics last week. McMahon doubled down, criticizing that other ethnic team names — Seaford, the town west of Massapequa, is the Vikings — face no scrutiny from the New York Board of Regents' 2023-enacted ban solely targeting Native names and logos. 3 Trump said removing names like Chiefs and Thunderbirds in Long Island school districts of Massapequa and Connetquot is disrespectful to Native Americans. James Messerschmidt 'We will not allow New York education leaders to continue violating the Civil Rights Act by inconsistently and unlawfully deeming some national-origin-based mascots as acceptable while determining others are not,' she added. How Long Island can win Roberts, who said New York's position is 'sad and disgraceful,' explained that the South Shore town has strength in numbers . Massapequa and the Native American Guardians Association, which, in a contract, permitted the district to keep Chiefs, have separate ongoing legal action against the state. Thirdly, Wachter asked Trump to ink an executive order on behalf of the conservative town he adores. However, Connetquot's fight hit turbulence after local education officials reversed course from initial legal action to keep Thunderbirds in the district that McMahon launched a July federal investigation into. It quietly allocated over $23M to phase out the title and were in talks out of public purview with New York to compromise with shortened T-Birds in exchange for dropping legal action. T-Birds, which is already used frequently in the school system, was initially disallowed by the ban. New York altered course after federal scrutiny came along. 3 School board president Kerry Wacther said when it comes to the school logo fight, 'We will never back down — we will always be the Massapequa Chiefs.' 'To turn around, settle, and say 'T-Bird — that's no longer discriminatory,' while it was two years ago, makes no sense,' Connetquot board member Jacquelyn DiLorenzo told The Post of dropping Thunderbirds. 'I think it's crazy and just political … I do feel that's a huge slap in the face,' added DiLorenzo, who blasted her colleagues as 'very corrupt' for keeping the negotiations back-room.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
NM Gov declines GOP's invite to visit ICE detention center
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, pictured in June at the Roundhouse, won't take New Mexico Republican lawmakers up on an invite to join a tour of the Otero County Processing Center in Southern New Mexico, where an average of 863 ICE detainees are currently held, according to a spokesperson. (Photo by Danielle Prokop / Source NM) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's 'busy schedule' Monday means she won't join Republican lawmakers on a tour of New Mexico's biggest immigration detention center, a spokesperson for the governor told Source New Mexico on Thursday. New Mexico Republicans shared a letter on social media Wednesday announcing some members would be touring the Otero County Processing Center on Monday, and they invited the governor to come along. The detention center in Chaparral currently houses most of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees in the state, and its population has increased since President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown began this year. The governor's chief lawyer told an interim legislative committee in July that the governor was considering adding a measure to the agenda at an upcoming special session that would ban immigration detention facilities in New Mexico. Medicaid, ICE detention on agenda for forthcoming special legislative session 'Before we take any action with such far-reaching implications (for example, putting New Mexicans out of work and risking millions of federal funding), it is essential that we have a clear first-hand understanding of the conditions within these facilities and the operations that take place there,' Republican lawmakers Rep. Andrea Reeb and Sen. Crystal Brantley wrote in the letter. The letter went on to invite the governor to tag along for the visit at 8 a.m. Monday. 'We believe your participation would be instrumental in ensuring that any decisions made are fully informed and in the best interests of the people of New Mexico,' the Republicans wrote. In an email Thursday afternoon, Michael Coleman, the spokesperson for the governor, told Source that the governor won't join the tour and also hasn't decided yet whether she'll add an ICE detention facility agenda to the special session call. 'The governor has a busy schedule on Monday and won't be joining in the tour,' Coleman said. 'We're still working to determine a special session agenda, and no final decision has been made on this particular issue.' He also said the governor hasn't yet decided on a date for the special session, which her lawyer said she anticipated would happen later this month or in September to address federal funding cuts Congress recently enacted in the 'Big Beautiful Bill' act. Other crime-related measures could also be on the governor's call. Senate GOP spokesperson Brandon Harris told Source New Mexico earlier Thursday that delays around background checks likely mean reporters won't be able to join the lawmakers during their tour, but they intend to hold a news conference or otherwise provide an update to the public about the tour. That could be on social media or at a previously scheduled meeting of the interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee also occurring Monday in Las Cruces. But the governor, who hadn't responded to the GOP's invite as of 1:30 p.m. Monday, would be able to join if she wanted, he said. 'If anyone could probably get expedited [approval],' it's the governor, Harris said. 'If she wanted to, she probably could.' The GOP's letter said the CCJ committee canceled a long-promised tour of the facility, citing concerns about background checks. As of Aug. 4, the average daily inmate population at Otero County Detention Center is 863, an increase of about 60 inmates, on average, since December last year, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. The other two New Mexico facilities in Torrance and Cibola counties have average daily populations of 444 and 223 ICE detainees, respectively, according to TRAC. Solve the daily Crossword
