Pauly Denetclaw
ICT
An Indigenous woman has never been elected to the U.S. Senate.
Mary Peltola, Yup’ik, in Alaska, and Peggy Flanagan, White Earth Nation, in Minnesota could change that. Both have made it to the general election on Nov. 3.
They are two of nine Indigenous candidates who have made it past the primaries onto the final ballot, according to the ICT and Advance Native Political Leadership database. (Despite best efforts, the database doesn’t capture the complete count of Indigenous candidates nationally, but is updated regularly.)
Nine Indigenous candidates made it to November races for federal offices, according to the databases since ICT has been keeping track from 2018 to 2026. There were also nine candidates in 2018. In 2020, there were 15 Indigenous candidates running for federal offices that made it to the general election, in 2022 there were 13, and there were 12 in 2024.
This is the highest number of Indigenous candidates to run for federal offices in an election year since 2018. There were a total of 25 candidates running for Congress in 2026 alone. The previous record was 21 candidates during the 2020 election.
This general election 55 percent of the Indigenous congressional candidates are women.
As of Sep 2., there were nine Indigenous candidates from eight federally-recognized tribes on November ballots. Only three are incumbents.
In Alaska, Democratic socialist, David Leslie, Iñupiaq, did qualify as the fourth candidate to head to the general election in the state’s rank-choice voting system. He withdrew on Aug. 31.
In no particular order, here are the nine Indigenous candidates vying for for federal office:
Peggy Flanagan
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan could be headed to the U.S. Senate. (Photo courtesy of Peggy Flanagan for Minnesota)
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, White Earth Nation, is running for the U.S. Senate. She won the Democratic primary on Aug. 11 against four other candidates. Flanagan garnered nearly 400,000 votes, which translates to a comfy 59 percent of the total.
The Republican challenger Michele Tafoya got around 202,000 votes. The Cook Political Report has this race as “Likely Democrat.” If Flanagan wins in November, she would become the first known Native American woman to be a U.S. senator, and only the fifth known Native American to serve in the Senate.
She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2002 with a degree in American Indian studies and child psychology. Flanagan’s political career started three years later, in 2005, when she was elected at 25 as the youngest person to serve on the Minnesota School Board.
Flanagan was elected to the state legislature during a special election in 2015 and served until 2019. She left the state legislature to serve as lieutenant governor alongside Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. She served two terms. Previously, Flanagan had planned to run for Minnesota governor but instead chose to run for the U.S. Senate.
She is running on a platform of affordability for families and an economy that allows people to live the life they want.
Claire Valdez
Claire Valdez (Courtesy of Kara McCurdy)
Claire Valdez, Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, is running to represent New York’s 7th Congressional District. If elected she would be the first Native American to represent New York state in Congress. She won the Democratic primary on June 23, over four other candidates. Valdez received 56 percent of the votes.
In November, she will face four other candidates. Her biggest challenger is Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who won the Working Families primary on June 23. Reynoso also ran to be the Democratic nominee but lost to Valdez by almost 13,000 votes.
Valdez has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Given her heavily Democratic district, she is likely to win in November.
ICT interviewed Valdez. Learn more about her and her campaign here.
Mary Peltola
Mary Peltola with a supporter during an August 16 canvass launch in southcentral Alaska. (Photo courtesy of Alaskans for Mary)
Mary Peltola, Yup’ik, was the first Alaska Native elected to Congress. She served in the U.S. House in Alaska’s at-large district, meaning she was the only House member and represents the entire state. Peltola held that seat from 2022 to 2025, losing reelection.
Peltola is running for an open U.S. Senate seat and if elected would be the first Alaska Native to serve in the Senate. Alaska has a non-partisan primary election and uses ranked-choice voting. She won the primary with 48 percent of the votes with just under 71,000 ballots, according to an Aug. 18 election summary report by Alaska’s election office.
She is running against incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who is married to Julie Fate Sullivan, Koyukon Athabascan. They have three children who are also Koyukon Athabascan. Sullivan received a little over 62,500 votes.
This is going to be a close race. Cook Political Report has this race as a “Toss Up.”
Peltola was first elected to the state legislature in 1998 at the age of 24. She was sworn into office in 1999 and served for a decade. From 2011 to 2013, she was on the city council for Bethel, Alaska.
Her platform focused on making life affordable for Alaskans by lowering gas prices, increasing wages and lowering taxes.
Jonathan Nez
Jonathan Nez, Navajo, is running for the U.S. House as a Democrat. He is seeking election to Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District. He advanced from the Democratic primary on July 21, running unopposed. He garnered a little over 53,000 votes.
Jonathan Nez poses with children holding his campaign signs during the Central Agency Fair in Chinle, Arizona. (Photo courtesy of Jonathan Nez for Congress)
He is up against the Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep. Eli Crane.
Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District crosses the sovereign lands of the Navajo Nation, Gila River Indian Community, Ak-Chin Indian Community, White Mountain Apache, San Carlos Apache, Havasupai, Hualapai and Hopi Tribe. From 2012 to 2020, the congressional map strengthened the Native vote but this was dismantled during redistricting in 2021.
Nez served one term as Navajo Nation president and one term as vice-president.
His political career started in 2004, at 29, when he was elected vice-president of Shonto Chapter House, one of the biggest communities on the Navajo Nation. Then, Nez was elected to the Navajo Nation Council in 2007. He was reelected three times. Nez left the legislative branch of the Navajo government when he was elected vice-president of the nation — joining the executive branch.
Nez was elected as Navajo Nation president in 2018 and led the Navajo Nation through the Covid-19 pandemic. This is his second time running for Congress.
Nez’s “Warrior Up Agenda” focuses on four pillars: “supporting families by lowering cost of healthcare and housing, water is life and food is medicine, building sustainable long-term rural infrastructure, and tackling corruption and holding Washington accountable,” according to his campaign website.
Sharice Davids
Sharice Davids is the longest serving Native American woman in Congress. (Photo courtesy of Sharice for Congress)
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, is running to secure her fifth term as the U.S. representative for Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District. As of 2026, she is the longest-serving Native American congresswoman and the first openly LGBTQ+ Native American elected to Congress.
Davids, a Democrat, made history as one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress. She was sworn-in alongside then-Rep. Deb Haaland, D-New Mexico.
Davids advanced from the Democratic primary on Aug. 4, winning over one other candidate, with nearly 73,000 votes. As of August 25, Cook Political Report has her race as “Likely Democrat.”
Davids will face two other challengers, Eric Jenkins, Republican, and Steve Hohe, Libertarian.
Davids went from Johnson County Community College to the prestigious Cornell Law School located in upstate New York. From there she worked with Native nations to address economic and community development needs on sovereign lands. This work motivated her to apply for the highly sought after White House Fellowship. She was one of 16 selected.
She worked in the Department of Transportation under the Obama, and then Trump administrations. Davids went from being a White House fellow to campaigning to represent Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District.
Davids is running on a platform that centers her constituents by focusing on being a voice for Kansans. Her priorities include lowering cost of living, and supporting the growth of good-paying jobs.
Tom Cole
Credit: Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole speaks with reporters following a closed-door meeting of the House Republican Conference inside the Capitol on Jan. 10. 2024. (Jennifer Shutt, States Newsroom)
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, Chickasaw, is the longest-serving Native American member of Congress and is seeking his 13th reelection. The Republican was first elected to represent Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District in 2002 and is influential within the GOP. He was chair of the House Rules Committee and currently chairs the House Appropriations Committee — one of the most powerful committees in Washington.
Cole has an extensive history in politics, beginning with his time as a staffer for former U.S. Rep. Mickey Edwards, R- Oklahoma, in 1982. He was chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party in 1985, later being elected to the Oklahoma state legislature as a senator. He chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee from 2006 to 2008. He was also chief of staff to the chairman of the Republican National Committee at the turn of the century.
It was no surprise that Cole advanced from the primary to the general election. He won with 71 percent of the votes. He is likely to win again this November in heavily Republican Oklahoma.
Cole has been endorsed by President Donald J. Trump.
His platform focuses on supporting a strong national defense, advocating for tax payers and small businesses as well as his firm support of tribal sovereignty and tribal governments.
Josh Brecheen
Josh Brecheen at an event. (Photo courtesy of Josh Brecheen for Congress)
U.S. Rep. Josh Brecheen, Choctaw, was first elected to represent Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District in 2022. As a freshman representative, he made headlines after joining a group of other Republican House members who opposed California Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid for House speaker. It took 12 rounds of voting before Brecheen changed his vote in favor of McCarthy.
Brecheen secured the Republican nomination with 79 percent of the votes on June 16, over one other challenger.
Brecheen will likely secure his third term this November in his heavily Republican district.
He first served in the Oklahoma State Senate with a campaign promise to do a self-imposed two term limit — meaning he would voluntarily pledge to step down from his seat after serving two terms. In 2018, Brecheen kept this promise by not seeking reelection. Brecheen is a fourth-generation rancher. His wife is Kacie Brecheen and together they have four children, and reside on their ranch in southeastern Oklahoma.
Brecheen has been endorsed by Trump.
His priorities include “draining the swamp,” enacting federal term-limits, protecting Medicare and Social Security and supporting a strong national defense.
N’kiyla “Jasmine” Thomas
N’kiyla “Jasmine” Thomas, Chickasaw, made headlines this year as a Democratic socialist who progressed to the general election. She is running to serve in the U.S. Senate to represent Oklahoma and replace incumbent U.S. Sen. Kevin Hern, Republican, who is her biggest challenger.
N’kiyla “Jasmine” Thomas (Photo courtesy of N’Kiyla for OK)
Oklahoma is a very conservative state, making this a tough race for Thomas. In 2024, Trump won in every single county. In total, he got 66 percent of the votes.
Thomas was one of two winners for the June 16 Democratic primary. Oklahoma election law requires candidates to receive over 50 percent of the votes to avoid a runoff.
During the runoff election on Aug. 25, she won over a more moderate Democrat with a lot more campaign funding. Thomas is a licensed practical nurse and has never before run for office.
The 31-year-old said she faced institutional headwinds as a nursing student in Tennessee at a for-profit college that were stressful and emotionally taxing. She said in a social media video that the episode led to depression.
Her experience prompted her to advocate strongly for herself and — after years — she was able to have some of her nursing school credits transferred and recognized by the state of Oklahoma. She eventually became a licensed practical nurse.
Her platform focuses on addressing health care issues from understaffing of nurses to accessing autism therapies. She also supports LGBTQ+ and women’s rights to ensure equality.
Sean McCann
Sean McCann, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, is running to represent Michigan’s 4th Congressional District. He advanced from the Democratic primary on Aug. 4. Winning with 67 percent of the votes over Diop Harris, a citizen of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi.
Michigan State Sen. Sean McCann. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Legislature)
McCann currently serves in the Michigan legislature as a senator.
He is facing two other candidates in the general election. As the Cook Political Report has this race as competitive for Democrats with only a 3 point Republican margin, Michigan could elect its first Native American member of Congress.
McCann’s political career began at age 28, when he was elected to the Kalamazoo City Commission in 1999 and held that seat for nine years. Then, McCann was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2011 and served four years.
He’s been a Michigan state senator for three years. As a state legislator, he has been the majority and minority vice-chair for several committees including Natural Resources and Agriculture, Appropriations, and the decommissioned Energy and Technology.
McCann’s campaign platform focuses on making healthcare affordable, protecting Medicaid and lowering the cost of living.
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