Minnesota Governor Tim Walz visited the Navajo Nation capital over the weekend.
It was the first time a member of a presidential ticket has campaigned on the reservation.
Walz told a crowd of several hundred people in Window Rock Saturday that former President Donald Trump was bad for tribes.
“He excluded tribal businesses from receiving pandemic emergency relief, he tried to remove most of bears ears national monument, he made it harder for tribes to regain ancestral lands and he even tried to de-recognize tribes,” Walz says.
Walz, by contrast, pointed to millions of dollars delivered for Infrastructure and COVID relief under Democrats.
He also connected abortion access to rates of maternal mortality that are two times higher than average for Indigenous women.
“We can make sure that every single native woman gets the care she needs and that the men here know that the choice should be with you and your family with how those decisions are made,” Walz says.
Indigenous voters were crucial for the Democrats’ 2020 win in Arizona—their first presidential victory in the state in two decades.
Native Americans make up 6% of the state's population, and the tribal vote could prove decisive in this year’s tight race.
