A century after Native Americans got the right to vote, they could put Trump or Harris over the top

RED SPRINGS, N.C. (AP) — Native American communities were decisive voting blocs in key states in 2020, and with the 2024 race remaining stubbornly close both campaigns have tried to mobilize Native voters in the final weeks of the presidential election.

But when it comes to messaging, the two campaigns could not be more different, many Native voters said. It’s been 100 years since Native Americans were given the right to vote, with the passage of the Snyder Act in 1924, and whichever campaign is able to harness their power in this election could swing some of the most hotly contested counties in the country.

In swing states like Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan, and Nevada, the candidates — particularly Vice President Kamala Harris — have been targeting Native Americans with radio ads and events on tribal lands featuring speakers like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump Jr.

Native American voters tend to favor Democrats, but they’re more likely to vote Republican than Latinos or African Americans, said Gabriel R. Sanchez, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He said they are one of the least partisan and youngest voting demographics in the country, often motivated by issues that directly impact their communities, like land rights and environmental protections.

In 2020, the Biden administration campaigned in several tribal nations in critical states like Wisconsin and Arizona, and precincts on tribal lands there helped narrowly tip the election for the Democrats. “Arizona was kind of like a textbook example of what that could look like if you make those early investments,” Sanchez said.

As part of a $370 million ad campaign released this month, including on several reservations, Harris said the U.S. should honor treaty rights and uphold tribal sovereignty. Crystal Echo Hawk, CEO of Illuminative, a nonprofit that works to increase the visibility of Native Americans, said those commitments, along with the economy and environmental protections, are the top issues Native voters have identified in Illuminative’s surveys.

Echo Hawk said those investments could pay off again for the Democrats. “I haven’t seen the same kind of targeted messaging and outreach from the Trump campaign,” she said. Harris also stands to inherit some of the goodwill left from the administrations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, she said.

Obama increased consultation with tribes on matters like land protections and criminal justice, and Biden appointed more than 80 Native Americans to senior administration roles.

“The minute that the announcement came that Harris was stepping into the race, you saw people organize overnight,” Echo Hawk said. And Trump, she said, will have to contend with his reduction of Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and his revival of the Keystone XL pipeline, both unpopular with Indigenous peoples. “I think a lot of these people remember that,” she said.

On Friday, Biden formally apologized for the country's support of Native American boarding schools and its legacy of abuse and cultural destruction. While seen as long overdue, it was met with praise from tribal leaders. On Saturday, vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will campaign in the Navajo Nation.

The Trump campaign hasn’t released ads targeting Native Americans, but U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, has stumped for the former president in Native communities in North Carolina, a swing state that was decided by less than one point in 2020.

On a crisp evening earlier this month, Mullin sat alongside Donald Trump Jr. and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat who recently announced she is joining the Republican Party, on a small stage in front of several bales of hay to take questions from an audience of a couple hundred people. They discussed issues ranging from the economy to tribal self-determination.

The event took place on a small farm in Red Springs, North Carolina, part of the traditional homelands of Mullin’s ancestors and current home to the Lumbee Tribe, a state-recognized tribe with about 55,000 members.

The federal recognition of the Lumbee has been opposed by several tribal nations, including the nearby Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Mullin’s own tribe, the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. The Lumbee’s push for federal recognition has become a focal point for both campaigns and a rare issue where both parties agree. Last month, Trump said he would sign legislation granting federal recognition to the Lumbee. Harris called the Lumbee's tribal chairman last week to discuss the legislation.

“This is an injustice that needs to be fixed when it comes to Lumbees,” Mullin told the crowd. “This is absolutely absurd. It needs to be done. I was so proud to hear President Trump say that he would sign it.”

But Mullin soon touched on one of the many areas where the two candidates differ: energy policy. Highlighting the fact that he believed a second Trump term would mean a better economy and lower energy costs, Mullin laid out Trump’s policy in one recognizable term that was echoed by the audience, "Drill, baby, drill.”

Both the Biden and Trump administrations pushed to produce more oil and gas than ever, including extractive energy projects that were opposed by Indigenous peoples. However, Native leaders have expressed concern that Trump is more likely to further erode protections for tribal lands.

Mullin suggested that if tribal nations are truly sovereign, they should be able to conduct energy extraction without the burden of federal intervention. He said just like the Lumbee’s fight for federal recognition, the rights of tribes to govern their own lands is the victim of federal bureaucracy.

“Why is tribal land treated like public land?” Mullin asked, questioning why the federal government should have any oversight on tribal nations that extract natural resources on their own lands. “You have natural resources being pulled out of the ground right across the fence from reservations. You have private land owners that are extremely wealthy and you have people that are literally starving inside reservations,” he said, comparing some to third-world countries.

He promised Trump would have a deep understanding of tribal sovereignty.

That message resonated with Robert Chavis Jr., a physical education teacher and Army veteran who was at the rally and will be voting for Trump. Chavis, a member of the Lumbee Tribe, said tribal nations aren’t just governments, they’re businesses, and the U.S. is no different. “I feel like you don’t need a politician in there. We need a businessman to run the country like it should be.”

But other Lumbee voters aren’t as convinced. At her art gallery a few miles away in Pembroke, Janice Locklear said Trump promised he would federally recognize the Lumbee last time he was in office, and she had no reason to believe he could accomplish it this time. But looking broader than her community, she said what Trump did on Jan. 6, 2021, represents a nationwide threat to democracy.

“He thought he could actually be a dictator, go in there and take over. Even though he had lost the election; he knew he had lost the election. So what do you think he’ll do this time,” she said.

Locklear said as a woman of color, she trusts that Harris will have a deeper understanding of the unique challenges facing Native Americans. “I’m sure she’s had to face the same problems we face,” Locklear said. “Discrimination, I’m sure she’s faced it.”

Supporter listen during a campaign event in support of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Red Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)

Donald Trump Jr. speaks during a campaign event in support of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Red Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)

Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard speaks during a campaign event in support of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Red Springs, N.C. as Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., listens (AP Photo/David Yeazell)

FILE - Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, on the Gila River Indian Community reservation in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

FILE - Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, on the Gila River Indian Community reservation in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

Donald Trump Jr., former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla, speak during a campaign event in support of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Red Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)

A Native American woman walks by the stage during a campaign event in support of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Red Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)

LONDON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken's weeklong trip to the Middle East ended unexpectedly in London on Friday, but the lack of a cease-fire breakthrough for Gaza came as no surprise to U.S. and Arab officials, who described the growing regional conflicts as a “nightmare.”

The trip to Israel, Qatar and Saudi Arabia had been expected after President Joe Biden said this month that he would dispatch Blinken to the region following Israel’s killing of Hamas military chief Yahya Sinwar, a move that Blinken said helped open a window for new talks on a cease-fire proposal that has been languishing for months.

Blinken and other U.S. officials discussed various proposals that could potentially trigger the release of Israeli hostages and end the devastating war in Gaza. The main discussion this week was more focused on a post-war plan for Palestinian governance, reconstruction and security for the larger region.

The impact of the war was on full display on Blinken's last day in Tel Aviv, when shortly before departing for the airport Wednesday, air raid sirens blared at the hotel where U.S. officials and press had been staying. The Israeli military said two rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon were intercepted, with smoke visible from the hotel.

Here are some takeaways from Blinken's 11th visit to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began over a year ago:

While expectations were low for an agreement between Israel and Hamas militants, America and Israel did announce that after several weeks with no meetings, U.S. and Israeli negotiators will be arriving in Qatar in the coming days to revive talks.

Qatar has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas. Blinken, speaking to reporters Thursday in the Qatari capital, Doha, said negotiators would soon return to the Gulf city.

“What we really have to determine is whether Hamas is prepared to engage,” Blinken said. But Hamas’ political representatives have not so far signaled a softer stance.

“There is no change in our position,” senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese broadcaster.

Hamdan said their delegates heard from mediators in Cairo about the potential to revive cease-fire negotiations, but he reiterated that the group still insists on an end to Israel’s offensive in Gaza, as well as its complete withdrawal from the territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the head of the Mossad, the country’s spy agency, would travel to Qatar on Sunday to meet with CIA director Bill Burns and the Qatari prime minister.

Throughout the trip, the U.S. questioned aspects of Israel's handling of the war, raising concerns about a controversial plan in northern Gaza as well as pushing its ally to adhere to U.S. humanitarian law regarding the insufficient level of aid reaching Palestinians.

Before leaving Tel Aviv, Blinken and other U.S. officials cornered Netanyahu and members of his government regarding a proposal backed by some Israeli officials in which civilians would be ordered to leave the north and anyone remaining would be starved out or killed.

A senior State Department official said Tuesday that both Netanyahu and his aide Ron Dermer denied having a proposal titled the “General’s Plan” and that it was damaging for such a perception to even exist.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks, said the U.S. responded by imploring the Israelis to go to great lengths to make it clear publicly that this is not their policy.

In that same meeting, Blinken also broached the issue of aid getting into Gaza, following up on a stern letter issued by him and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently that called for a remedy to the dire situation on the ground for Palestinians.

Blinken, according to the official, laid out a series of areas where the Israelis needed to improve, providing a 30-day deadline to begin seeing progress.

Days later in Doha, Blinken announced an additional $135 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinians but said again that the assistance would be hopeless if it is not able to get to the civilians in need.

Many Arab leaders this week publicly expressed their exasperation at the status of the cease-fire negotiations more than a year into the conflict. Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said he was sad that mediators got so close to a deal several times in recent months only to be derailed.

“Every time we got closer to a solution, unfortunately, there were many steps back,” he told reporters Thursday in Doha.

He added that going forward, there would be consequences “should there be any of the parties that refuse to be constructively part of the negotiations.”

Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, took it even further, saying directly to Blinken during a meeting Friday in London that the “Israeli government is not listening to anyone,” and as a result, the conflicts have became a “nightmare that the region is continuing to live through."

“The only path to save the region from that is for Israel to stop the aggressions on Gaza, on Lebanon, stop unilateral illegal measures of the West Bank that is also pushing the situation,” Safadi said.

Many questioned if the timing of the trip was the Biden administration's 11th-hour effort to achieve even the most modest of breakthroughs in the region before the U.S. presidential election.

Blinken, instead, pointed to Sinwar's death as providing a much-needed opening for mediators who had spent the last month trying to get back to the negotiating table.

The discussions around a post-war plan are being pushed by the U.S. as a way to rebuild goodwill among the various stakeholders after several lethal strikes over the summer, including two that took out the leaders of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

This is the last time Blinken will be in the region before Election Day in 11 days, and Democrats had hoped for a cease-fire deal by the time Americans began to vote.

That would have helped alleviate the serious criticism many voters have had toward Vice President Kamala Harris' stance on the war. Critics say the Biden administration has not gone far enough to deter Israel's conduct of the war, which has left more than 42,000 Palestinians dead.

Local health authorities do not differentiate between militants and civilians in their count but say women and children make up more than half the fatalities.

This story has been corrected to reflect in the section, ‘Frustration from Arab partners,’ that quotes erroneously attributed to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who was misidentified as Qatar’s prime minister, were from Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the prime minister. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is Qatar’s ruling emir.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Israel's President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool via AP)

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system fires to intercept as air raid sirens sound in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday Oct. 23, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha, Qatar, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani shake hands as they attend a press conference in Doha, Qatar, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani during their meeting in Doha, Qatar, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in London Britain, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in London Britain, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in London Britain, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool photo via AP)