Haaland jumps into New Mexico governor’s race

Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is formally jumping into the race to become the Land of Enchantment’s governor.

She announced her campaign on Tuesday morning with a video posted online.

In the launch video, she was expected to talk about the cost of living, safety and the importance of listening to communities in New Mexico.

“Lowering costs, making rent and housing affordable, strengthening our schools, and preventing crimes so that you feel safe raising a family here. The solutions are there if we are fierce enough to choose them,” Haaland was expected to say in the video.

Haaland, a former Democratic congresswoman, often describes herself as a 35th generation New Mexican, citing her membership in the Pueblo of Laguna tribe. 

She appears to be well-positioned to win the state because one of its highest-profile politicians, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), recently told Semafor he decided not to run. 

New Mexico has been a reliably blue state in presidential elections. It has a Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, though she was preceded by a Republican, former Gov. Susana Martinez.

Haaland’s announcement is not a surprise. A spokesperson confirmed last month she would run for governor. 

Working in the Biden administration, Haaland oversaw an agency in charge of conserving the nation’s public lands and waters. Like many states in the West, New Mexico contains large swaths of federally-owned land. 

In that role, Haaland  sought to advance President Biden’s climate agenda by expanding the development of renewables and limiting oil and gas drilling.

However, her tenure also saw the reapproval of the Willow Project, a massive oil and gas drilling project in Alaska.

In the House, she was a member of the progressive caucus and sat on the Natural Resources, Armed Services, and Oversight and Reform committees. 

Asked about her plans as she prepared to depart from the Biden administration, Haaland told The Hill last month she’d like to focus on electing candidates who want to take on issues like climate change and missing and murdered Indigenous people. 

“Before I came here, before I came to Congress … I was an advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous peoples. I was a climate activist,” she said.

“I worked hard on a lot of elections, every seat, every single cycle, to get the candidates who cared about my issues elected. So my guess is that I’m going to give support to organizations that move those issues forward,” she added.

Haaland was one of the first Native American women elected to Congress and was the first Native cabinet secretary.