February 12 2025.
Haaland received a groundswell of grassroots support since launching her campaign on Tuesday.
Albuquerque, N.M. – Today, the Deb Haaland for New Mexico campaign announced that just one day after launching, she has raised $686,323 from 13,394 unique donations. This includes donations from every county in New Mexico totaling $232,625 in more than 2,500 donations. A significant number of donors are educators, healthcare professionals, and artists— demonstrating Haaland’s focus on connecting with hardworking Americans.
Haaland’s campaign received contributions from individuals in all 50 states and DC with an average online contribution of just under $50. Moreover, 98% of contributions to the campaign were below $100. This unprecedented number of small-dollar donors lining up behind Haaland speaks to the excitement and grassroots support for her candidacy and the momentum behind the campaign to elect a new kind of leader in New Mexico. Haaland has nearly $1 million cash on hand after her first day of launch.
“I know that folks are feeling pinched right now, and I am extremely grateful that so many people have gone the extra mile and have given us a few dollars where they can. We’re running a grassroots campaign to change the game for New Mexico and this fundraising record proves that,” said Haaland.
Haaland launched her campaign on Tuesday with a video highlighting her commitment to lowering costs, addressing crime, and promoting healthy communities. Over the next month, she will travel the state to listen to New Mexicans and learn about their struggles and ideas for solutions that fit their communities.
Haaland’s fundraising efforts align with New Mexico’s statute which bars sitting state elected officials from fundraising during the New Mexico legislative session.
About Deb Haaland
Deb Haaland is a 35th-generation New Mexican, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, a small businesswoman, a working mother who’s lived paycheck to paycheck, a former congresswoman, and for the past four years, the United States Secretary of the Interior.
Like many New Mexicans, Deb has faced challenges, like homelessness and financial insecurity. Deb helped pay for her child’s preschool by volunteering at the school for discounted tuition. She relied on food stamps to put food on the table and Planned Parenthood for essential care. But like so many New Mexicans, struggle made her fierce. Deb’s resilience enabled her to achieve over three decades of sobriety and build a remarkable career in public service.
Deb was confirmed as Secretary of the Interior with strong bipartisan support and is the first Native American cabinet secretary in our nation’s history. As Secretary, she led nearly 70,000 federal employees and worked tirelessly for New Mexicans, securing and supporting thousands of New Mexico jobs, historic local clean energy development, and overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars of investments in the state. She played a pivotal role in protecting 13.5 million acres of land in New Mexico, partnering with rural communities and Tribal Nations to preserve natural resources for fishing, ranching, recreation, and more. As someone who grew up in a rural community, Deb partnered with New Mexico’s rural towns and villages to secure clean water and address their biggest challenges.
While raising her child, Somah, as a single mom, Deb picked up catering gigs and ran her own small business producing and canning salsa. As a tribal administrator at San Felipe Pueblo and member of the Laguna Development Corporation Board of Directors, Deb successfully advocated for changes that supported small businesses while protecting our land and water. She wanted to make a difference for working New Mexicans like her and started to get involved in registering people to vote. In 2018, Deb made history as one of the first Native American women elected to Congress.
In Congress, Deb prioritized issues important to New Mexicans, including creating local clean energy jobs, securing billions for small businesses and restaurants during the pandemic, expanding access to broadband, addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, and protecting thousands of acres of New Mexico’s land. She was known for working across the aisle to deliver for New Mexico, securing more bipartisan cosponsors for her legislation than all House freshmen in 2019, and introducing six bills signed into law by President Donald Trump—among the most of any member of the House that Congress.
Growing up in a military family, Deb attended 13 public schools before graduating from Highland High School in Albuquerque. At age 28, she began her journey toward a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of New Mexico and later a J.D. from UNM Law School
