'Idaho's hope': could Paulette Jordan be the first Native American governor in the US?

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'Idaho's hope': could Paulette Jordan be the first Native American governor in the US?

The Democrat, whose grandparents were tribal chiefs, offers progressive solutions for a state struggling with healthcare, education and more
Sam Levin

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Paulette Jordan: ‘The leadership here is so far behind.’ Photograph: Jonathan Bachman/Reuters

Paulette Jordan was not going to let her opponent have the last word.The Democratic nominee for Idaho governor is a night owl and stayed in her office past 1am for her final marathon session of debate prep. Dressed in sweatpants and a running jacket and drinking yerba mate tea for energy, she rehearsed until she couldn’t any more. On stage 16 hours later, when the Republican candidate, Brad Little, said Jordan’s “special interest” money came from Native American tribes, she didn’t let him finish. “They’re not ‘special interest’,” said Jordan, a member of the Coeur d’Alene tribe, looking her opponent in the eye. “Tribes are called sovereign nations.”

“Oh, ‘sovereign nations’!” Little responded, throwing his hands up in the air.

“They are also individuals, human beings,” Jordan fired back.

It was a brief exchange, but one that stuck with Jordan, a 38-year-old indigenous woman vying to be Idaho’s first female leader and America’s first Native American governor.


“As someone who is part of the First Nations of this land, having been here for thousands of years, people forget that there were people here prior to their arrival,” Jordan said, later that night at a cocktail bar in Boise, where she was celebrating the debate with a small group of staff. “For him to scoff at that, to have this very arrogant mannerism towards it … it’s condescending and disrespectful to tribes.”years, people forget that there were people here prior to their arrival,” Jordan said, later that night at a cocktail bar in Boise, where she was celebrating the debate with a small group of staff. “For him to scoff at that, to have this very arrogant mannerism towards it … it’s condescending and disrespectful to tribes.”
Republicans wanted to suppress the Native American vote. It's working


Jordan’s underdog campaign has shaken up politics in the west, bringing mainstream attention to disenfranchised communities and progressive policy ideas that GOP leaders typically overlook or treat with disdain. In the final week of the race in one of the reddest states in the country, her supporters and opponents are asking the same question: can she actually win?

‘The leadership is stuck in the 1950s’


Jordan is part of a blue wave of candidates pushing to change the face of US politics, with record-breaking numbers of women and history-making women of color and Native Americans on the ballot. With progressive stars like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stunning pundits with victories, there’s a sense among some non-traditional Democratic campaigns that anything is possible.
Jordan grew up on a farm in rural northern Idaho, hundreds of miles from Boise, the state capital. Her grandparents were chiefs, and her ancestors were prominent tribal leaders who fought the settlers who forced indigenous people to live on reservations. Jordan has a vivid memory of her grandmother handing her a microphone when she was five years old at a ceremony and teaching her to speak and express gratitude. “The notion of power or leadership was based on them listening,” she said. “It just kind of sets the way, the path, just to be humble.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/31/paulette-jones-idaho-governor-native-american-democrat