A November victory for the Democratic ticket could make history in another way: Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota would 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 Ojibwe, became the highest-ranking Native woman elected to an executive position, according to his official biography. She was re-elected in 2022 under Governor Tim Walz.
Now, with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday choosing Walz as her running mate, a victory against Republican nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, would propel Flanagan, 44, to the position of governor of Minnesota.
Walz and Flanagan’s current term is up for re-election in 2026. But the state Constitution allows Flanagan to take over the government if Walz, for any reason, leaves office. She would also become Minnesota’s first female governor.
In a Tuesday post on X, Flanagan congratulated Walz on joining Harris.
Native Americans make up just over 1% of Minnesota’s total population, according to census datawith many living in the state 11 reservations or in its urban centers. O The Native Vote Helped Joe Biden secure a victory against Trump in the state in 2020.
In his prominent role, Flanagan has openly supported indigenous rights, defending the changing the state flag of Minnesota – the previous design was criticized for decades for its depiction of Native Americans.
In 2016, when Flanagan was a state representative, she attended the Democratic National Convention and spoke out against then-nominee Trump, who mocked Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat from Massachusetts, calling her Pocahontas.
“Your name is not Pocahontas,” Flanagan said he told his daughter in a letter. “You should never let anyone make you feel less than proud of who you are. So despite everything that has happened to our people, and no matter what Donald Trump says, we are still here.”
Flanagan has also been outspoken about Trump’s policies when he was president. In 2020, when Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, one of his senior advisers, visited Minnesota for the opening of the nation’s first task force office dedicated to solving cold cases of missing and murdered Native Americans and Alaska Natives, Flanagan questioned .
“Donald Trump has made a career out of demonstrating and celebrating behaviors that perpetuate violence against Native women and girls,” she said at the time.
Since then, Flanagan helped oversee the creation of the state’s first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office in St. Paul, designed to help families navigate the justice system.
“It really matters who is at the table and who is elected,” she told MinnPost in 2023. “We finally have indigenous representation in the governor’s office and indigenous women in the Legislature.”
However, governors with Native American ancestry remain rare: Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt is a member of the Cherokee Nation.
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