Story Published: Nov 9, 2010
Story Updated: Nov 5, 2010
WASHINGTON – Native American voters played an
important role this election season, helping some non-Indian
politicians get elected in state and national elections. However,
Indian candidates did not fare as well, performing poorly at polls
across the nation.
On Election Day, some observers were calling the Native influence
“the Frybread Factor,” noting that Indians had the opportunity to
provide the deciding votes in close races. Given the relatively
small percentage of Indian voters, their votes tend to have the most
sway when races are tight – something that has happened in state and
national elections with increasing frequency in recent years.
“The balance of power, or swing votes, for the candidate that can
represent our needs best is the most important vote there is even if
it is only 1 or 2 percent,” commented News From Indian Country
Editor Paul DeMain on Facebook, while encouraging Natives to vote.
“That’s all a winning candidate needs is 50 percent plus 1 vote.
Very powerful position to be in, and it will be called forever, the
‘Frybread Factor.’”
Analysts are citing a few examples of an Indian effect this year,
namely in Alaska in support of Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and in
Washington state for Democratic Sen. Patty Murray. Both politicians
faced tough election battles, and the Native constituencies in their
states were seen as pushing them over the edge in close races. As of
press time, both politicians were expected to prevail, but votes
were still being analyzed.
In South Dakota, Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, who was
one of the politicians the Indian vote helped put into office
beginning in 2004, lost her re-election bid.
“The Native vote tends to get noticed more at a national level when
there is a presidential race,” said Chris Stearns, co-founder of
Native Vote Washington. “But, if you look at the massive
get-out-the-vote efforts of Patty Murray’s and Lisa Murkowski’s
re-election campaigns aimed at the tribes, and the support they
received, it tells a story of the growing power of the Native vote
at the state level.”
In terms of Washington, Stearns noted that many districts this year
have been decided by close margins.
“There was definitely a key play for Native voters in the Washington
battleground counties of King, Pierce and Snohomish where you have
over 12,000 Native votes in play, many of them urban Indians in
Seattle and Tacoma. And that includes the combined votes of the
Puyallup, Muckleshoot, Tulalip and Snoqualmie tribes (and a lot of
Nisqually).
“The fact is that many districts in Washington are going to be
decided by close margins, and with 29 tribes and over 100,000 Native
votes at stake in a good year, you can’t ignore those votes.”
The Indian vote has played a major factor in the state before. Six
years ago, Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire won by just 133 votes,
and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell won in 2001 by 2,229 votes.
Steve Wackowski, communications director for the Murkowski campaign,
said, “The Alaska Native vote was critical to this election.” With
all of Alaska’s precincts reporting, results showed nearly 41
percent of voters cast a write-in ballot. Those ballots were in the
process of being checked after Election Day to see that the voters
supported Murkowski over Republican Joe Miller, who received 34
percent.
Even given the influence of Native voters in tight races, attention
from most politicians is still hard to come by.
“Honestly, I feel politicians have realized tribes are willing to
donate to campaigns; therefore they have political contribution asks
in to all tribes, but do I feel they reach out to Native voters? No,
I do not feel politicians reach out to Native voters,” said Theresa
Sheldon, a Native Vote Washington organizer and member of the
Tulalip Tribes.
She noted with disappointment that the Democrats in her state only
put a Native coordinator on their campaign with pay during the
presidential election year.
Stearns said Natives continue to make efforts to be recognized
nationwide, such as through combined efforts of tribes and urban
Indians to identify themselves and collect their own numbers, as
well as the advances in technology, allowing the two parties to
capture and map voters within each state and county.
This year, as in election years since 1955, the National Congress of
American Indians conducted a Native Vote initiative, aimed at
increasing Native votes. In addition to outreach to tribes and
individual Indians, the organization hosted www.nativevote.org,
offering resources to help officials get out the vote on
reservations.
NCAI President Jefferson Keel called for American Indians and Alaska
Natives to report any problems during Election Day, especially after
NCAI had been monitoring possible disenfranchisement of Indian
voters on the Spirit Lake Nation. County officials in North Dakota
had planned to close polling places on the reservation, but, after
Native attention, a judge ruled that this action could not occur.
“In North and South Dakota we were glad to see things taken care of
before the elections,” said Thom Wallace, NCAI spokesman, who added
that his office was looking at whether there were any irregularities
reported in Indian country on Election Day itself. No immediate
wide-scale problems for Indian voters stood out.
Wallace also said the organization is examining Indian turnout in
many states beyond Alaska and Washington to determine impact.
“For a midterm election, it’s already a promising sign that
organizing for get-out-the-vote efforts were so strong in some areas
of the country, and these are successes that can be built on for the
future.”
Beyond their support for non-Indian politicians, Indians have
increasingly put themselves on state and local ballots in recent
years with some degree of success. This year, wins were hard to come
by.
“We are deeply disappointed by the loss of progressive champions
like the only Indian in the Pennsylvania assembly, Rep. Barbara
McIlvaine Smith who was narrowly defeated and Washington state Sen.
Claudia Kauffman, the first and only Indian woman in that state’s
chamber, who is currently behind in the vote tally,” said Kalyn
Free, director of the Indigenous Native Democratic Network, in a
statement after Election Day. Kauffman conceded her race Nov. 4.
“Our efforts to put the first Indian in the Wisconsin Assembly by
electing Mert Summers were thwarted. Likewise, in our three
statewide races, Arizona Secretary of State candidate Chris
Deschene, Oklahoma’s State Auditor Steve Burrage, and South Dakota’s
candidate for Commissioner of School and Public Lands Bob Pille were
all pilloried.”
In total, INDN’s List candidates won 12 of 27 battles, meaning in
January, there will be far fewer Indians holding political offices
than currently.
Jeff Doctor, a Seneca candidate for U.S. Congress, also lost his bid
in North Carolina by a large margin.
Free said if tribes want more Indian candidates elected, they need
to be willing to provide donations – something she said was rare
this year.
“Until tribes start supporting their own tribal members, then
nothing is going to change. The effort and the focus should be on
building and strengthening our own candidates.”