Natives Poised—Again—to Affect Control of U.S. Senate
Published in Indian Country Today in 2013. For more on topics like this, see my book, American Apartheid: The Native American Struggle....
The decision of U.S. Senator
Max Baucus (D.-Montana), shown here, not to run in 2014 spotlights the Native vote in his
state. Just as tribal members pulled Senator Jon Tester (D.-Montana) across the
finish line in his neck-and-neck 2012 race, they may be positioned to decide the
upcoming contest, said Blackfeet tribal member Tom Rodgers, of Carlyle
Consulting and voting-rights group Four Directions. That, in turn, will help
determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.
“If the 2014 senatorial race
is anything like 2012, there may be a 2 to 3 point difference between the
candidates, and the Native vote can easily make the decision,” said Rodgers.
Native influence will be
even greater if an ongoing lawsuit (Mark Wandering
Medicine v. Linda McCulloch, now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals)
to require satellite election offices on Montana reservations succeeds,
according to Rodgers. “With satellite registration and voting, Indian turnout
will skyrocket—and the only way to get political power is to affect political
outcomes.”
Both major parties understand
the Native vote’s potential. The Montana GOP is talking to the Republican
National Committee about funding a staff position to do outreach in tribal
communities, according to state party executive director Bowen Greenwood. “When
a race is close, every vote counts,” said Greenwood. He added that Natives’
beliefs in tradition and caring for the land and their desire for economic
development match Republican ideals.
For its part, the Montana Democratic Party has long had voter-registration, get-out-the-vote and voter-protection efforts in Native communities, spokesperson Chris Saeger has told ICTMN.
“We are very sad to lose
Senator Baucus’s leadership. Federal policy is often imposed on tribes, and we
rely on our representatives in Washington to advocate for us,” said Gordon
Belcourt, Blackfeet, executive director of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders
Council. “And since both major parties want to reach out to tribes in the race
to replace Senator Baucus, they should both support the on-reservation satellite
voting offices we’re requesting via the lawsuit.”
Four Directions legal
director Greg Lembrich, of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, said there was nothing his
organization wanted to see more than both parties embracing the Indian vote and
treating Native voters just as they did those in other communities. (Lembrich is shown here, far left, briefing top lawyers from around the nation, who were going to serve as pollwatchers for election precincts on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Sioux Indian reservations.)
Belcourt offered a word of
advice to would-be senators, and to the parties as a whole: When they arrive on
reservations, they will face pointed questions about their platforms and policies
and will need to produce well-thought-out action plans to deal with issues like
decades of high unemployment—in the 50 to 80 percent range for the tribes his
group represents—and the effect of sequestration on programs that are already
severely underfunded, such as the Indian Health Service. “It’s not a question
of Democrats versus Republicans for Native people, it’s how the candidates
address the issues.”
Senator Baucus was also what
Belcourt called “very receptive” to meeting with tribal leaders. In the
upcoming race for his seat, a record of personal involvement is going to count
a lot with the tribes, Belcourt said.
Lembrich
noted that in 2014 Indian country will also
be pivotal in South Dakota, where Senator Tim Johnson, a Democrat, has announced
his retirement, and in Alaska, where Democratic Senator Mark Begich faces a
tough race: “With no presidential race to distract anyone, we’ll see media
saturation and lots of feet on the ground registering voters and getting them
to the polls.”
Hanging over all this, said
Lembrich, is the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming Voting Rights Act decision (Shelby County v. Holder) and a Native voting-rights
suit in South Dakota (Chris Brooks v.
Jason Gant). “We have some real drama ahead surrounding voting equality for
tribal members.”
Text and pollwatchers photo c. Stephanie Woodard. Baucus photo courtesy his office.