Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and former U.S. secretary of the Department of the Interior, said she would take on large data centers, fight for families and children and improve relationships with tribes. She made the promises in a speech after voters decided to make her New Mexico’s next governor.
“I will make sure that tribes — tribal leaders — have a seat at the table,” Haaland, a Democrat, told a crowd during a victory rally at Route 66 Casino and Hotel in Albuquerque.
She invoked her Pueblo heritage.
“We're our state's longest residents,” she said. “So, I think it's important to recognize that, you know, our ancestors were here in the Rio Grande Valley in the late 1200s, and that we have an obligation to our land, to our people, and I take that obligation seriously.”
Haaland is the nation’s first female Native American governor.
Haaland was expected to win the election. She took about 57% of the votes. Republican opponent Greggory Hull garnered about 42% of the vote. Hull was a three-term mayor for the city of Rio Rancho and a strong supporter of President Donald Trump.
Haaland told reporters at the rally that she would implement some kind of moratorium on large-scale data centers and appoint a secretary for the Children, Youth and Families Department. She also pointed to New Mexicans who may lose Medicaid and SNAP food benefits, saying the Governor’s Office would look for ways to intervene to help.
Haaland framed her leadership as both a mandate and a responsibility. Speaking about the state’s relationships with tribes, she said New Mexico’s Tribal Collaboration Act should ensure tribal leaders can weigh in before important decisions are made.
From 2019 to 2021, Haaland served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District. When asked how the stakes on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, compared to election night on her prior congressional campaign, Haaland noted the sweeping series of victories Democrats had: “I think there was a lot at stake tonight because of what's happening across the nation, and you know, Democrats did quite well in the Senate races. We won back the House. You know, Texas has a Democratic governor-elect now. These were all things that I think were important in this election. So I'm happy that I will be serving alongside [Texas Governor-elect] Gina Hinojosa, and we'll just move forward and hope that we can move our state forward.”
Questions about a big issue in the news, flooding across the Southwest, including the Four Corners region, led Haaland to focus on federal and state responses. Haaland expressed concern about federal capacity, specifically FEMA, and said she would press the government to meet its obligations to New Mexico. She also said her administration would allocate funds for relief as climate change affects the state.
Asked about working with Trump, Haaland simply said: “I’m going to work with whoever will work with me.”
