Minnesota Native American incumbents reelected to office
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Several Native American incumbents were reelected to office across the state in the midterm elections.
Two state senators kept their seats. White Earth Nation citizen and Republican Steve Green won in northern Minnesota’s District 2. Green was first elected to the Minnesota House in 2012 and to the Senate in 2022.
Standing Rock descendant Mary Kunesh, a DFLer from New Brighton, stayed on in the north metro’s District 39. Kunesh first served two terms in the Minnesota House before being elected to the Senate in 2020.
Two Native state representatives were also reelected Tuesday.
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Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa descendant and Duluth DFLer Liish Kozlowski was elected for a third term. Kozlowski told MPR News that they received a greater percentage of votes during this election than in previous years. They were first elected in 2022.
“This is really about our movement and our resistance building and growing,” Kozlowski said. “Our young people to our elders are demanding better and demanding more.”
Kozlowski’s priorities include ending homelessness, raising the minimum wage, advocating for single-payer healthcare, addressing racial disparities, and protecting the environment.
Former Prairie Island Indian Community council leader and east suburbs DFLer Shelley Buck won her first full term unopposed in District 47A. Buck first won the seat in a special election in January.
In Bemidji’s local election, White Earth Nation citizen Audrey Thayer was reelected to the city council at-large seat. Thayer was first elected to city council in 2020.
Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
