A win in November Democratic ticket may make history in another way: Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan will likely become the first Native American woman to lead a state.
After taking office in 2019, Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of the Ojibwe, became the highest-ranking Native woman elected to executive office. according to his official bio. He won re-election in 2022 with Governor Tim Waltz.
Now, with Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Walz on Tuesday and victory over Republican candidate Donald Trump as his running mate rcruel fellow, Ohio Senator JD VanceHe would bring the 44-year-old Flanagan to the position of governor of Minnesota.
Walz and Flanagan’s current terms are up for re-election in 2026. But the state Constitution allows Flanagan to assume the governorship if Walz vacates the office for any reason. She would also become Minnesota’s first female governor.
In a post at X on Tuesday, Flanagan congratulated Walz on joining Harris.
Native Americans make up just over 1% of Minnesota’s population. according to census datamany live off the government 11 reservations or in city centers. The The native vote helped Joe Biden Help Trump win the state in 2020.
In his high-profile role, Flanagan has been vocal about his support for Indigenous rights, and has defended this year’s. Changing the Minnesota State Flag – the previous design was criticized for decades for depicting Native Americans.
In 2016, when Flanagan was a state representative, he attended the Democratic National Convention and spoke against then-candidate Trump. ironyed Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., by he calls her Pocahontas.
“Your name is not Pocahontas,” Flanagan told her young daughter in a letter. “You shouldn’t let anyone make you feel less than proud of who you are. So no matter what happens to our people and no matter what Donald Trump says, we’re still here.”
Flanagan was also outspoken about Trump’s policies when he was president. Flanagan raised the issue in 2020 when his daughter Ivanka Trump, one of Trump’s top advisers, visited Minnesota to inaugurate the office of the nation’s first task force dedicated to solving the cold cases of missing and murdered Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
“Donald Trump has built a career of demonstrating and celebrating behavior that perpetuates violence against Indigenous women and girls” he said at the time.
Since then, Flanagan helped supervise Developed to help families navigate the justice system, St. Establishing the state’s first Office of Missing and Murdered Local Relatives in Paul.
“Who’s at the table and who’s elected really matters,” he said told MinnPost In 2023. “We finally have indigenous representation in the governorship and indigenous women in the legislature.”
However, governors of Native American descent remain a rarity: Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt A member of the Cherokee Nation.