In the final days of the campaign, U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona, is gaining attention for his Native vote efforts.
The New York Times, The Washington Post and 12 News were among the media outlets that covered Gallego's visit to the Havasupai Tribe. The visit, which took place on Indigenous Peoples' Day on October 14, 2024, was notable because Gallego hiked several miles in and out of the Grand Canyon, where the tribe lives and where major flooding recently occurred, rather than take a helicopter.
"The Havasupai people have lived in the Grand Canyon for centuries," Gallego wrote in a post on social media on October 17, 2024. "Their history is Arizona’s history and I will always fight to protect it."
Gallego, who currently serves in the U.S. House of Representatives, has vowed to visit every tribal community in Arizona during his campaign. According to the media reports, the visit to the Havasupai Tribe was his 20th -- he has two more to go before the election on November 5, 2024.
Gallego is running against Republican Kari Lake. who has campaigned in Indian Country. Her most high-profile Native endorsement is from Myron Lizer, a former vice president of the Navajo Nation who has recorded ads in support of the Republican Party in Arizona.
On Gallego's campaign website,"Tribal Communities" are included as his priorities. Lake does not have a comparable page on her platform, although she has touched on tribal water rights as part of her focus on "Water for the West."
Polls show Gallego consistently leading Lake, in many cases by several points.
