Quick Read
Native attendees of a Duluth candidate forum share their concerns and why they are choosing to vote in November’s election.
Several state candidates met with Native and non-Native community members at the American Indian Community Housing Organization in Duluth on Tuesday and discussed their stances on housing.
White Earth Nation citizen Babette Sandman, 72, attended the evening forum. She remembered a time when she may not have voted.
“Voting has been a long journey for me. I’m from the ’60s and ’70s. You know, a lot of protesting and a lot of having a hard time to believe in our vote that it made any kind of difference,” Sandman said.
It wasn’t until the 1960s and 1970s that the federal government addressed Native voting rights. Before then, many states restricted tribal communities or denied them the right to vote.
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With the upcoming election, she says Native voters are needed more than ever, as concerns grow over affordable housing, assistance programs and daily living costs.
Sandman currently works with Street Wise, an organization that gathers voices from people who are homeless or have experienced homelessness to work on legislation that addresses housing needs.
State Rep. Pete Johnson, DFL-District 8A (right) talks with the Christopher Paris, an employee at the Damiano Center and part of Duluth’s Affordable Housing Coalition, Tuesday, October 20th, 2026 after the conclusion of a forum hosted by the American Indian Community Housing Organization and its community partners for state senate and state house candidates to talk about the current housing climate.
Derek Montgomery for MPR News
“We always were a country that took care of the people, and it’s really hard with expensive expenses for people to make it. You know, try and work two jobs and raise kids is impossible,” she said.
Mary Garness, 49, is from the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Wisconsin and currently lives in Duluth. Garness says she wants to make an informed decision when she votes.
“I want to help the people that I care about, and so how I vote is really going to be a reflection of what I see as the community needs,” said Garness.
Garness, who works for St. Louis County, is most concerned about housing and funding for mental health services, which she says go hand in hand.
“I see so many people struggling. Whether it’s people that come into my office that struggle to pay their bills or afford the services that we have,” she said.
When looking at candidates, she wants to vote for someone who can listen to people’s lived experiences.
“I think it’s really impactful in making informed decisions regarding our tax dollars. You know, creating bills that take us in the right direction and also standing up for things they believe are right,” she said, stating that she would wait until election day to cast her ballot.
Govinda Budrow of Duluth, Minn. stands for a portrait Tuesday after the conclusion of a forum hosted by the American Indian Community Housing Organization and its community partners for state senate and state house candidates to talk about the current housing climate.
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Govinda Budrow, 46, is a descendant of White Earth Nation. She works as a faculty member at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, located in Cloquet. She is most concerned with affordable housing, education and environmental sustainability.
She says she is considering early voting ahead of Election Day.
“It’s about our ability to show up and thrive as nations, as communities, as individuals, and connecting with one another,” Budrow said. “If we support the health and the wellness and the education of the community, and if we have thriving communities, we’re all going to be doing better.”
In south Minneapolis, Make Voting A Tradition is a program of the Native American Community Development Institute. It aims to increase Native voter turnout and civic engagement.
Program manager Jolene Jones, 64, is a descendant of White Earth Nation and the Lac Courte Oreille Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. She says the group works through nonpartisan and peer efforts.
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“We specifically tell them how that office directly affects them, and I think people, every day, people don’t even realize how some of these offices affect them, their families, their environment, everything,” said Jones.
She says voter turnout and civic engagement have increased in the last six years.
“Without our vote, some elections can be lost. You know, we need to not only vote, but we need to vote strong,” she said.
In 2020, Native voters in Arizona and Wisconsin closed the margin in Joe Biden’s presidential win, according to Colorado-based High Country News.
Babette Sandman wants to see her fellow community members at the polls.
“Our vote matters, especially now, for our future generations. What we do today, especially now, what we do now is so important for moving forward into the next generations.”
For Sandman and other Native attendees at Duluth’s forum, a candidate who is genuine and understands the needs of their community will earn their vote on election day.
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.
