12:54
Before deciding to run for the House of Representatives, Haaland volunteered in former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. She then became the chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and helped flip the state House back to blue. In 2014, she ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor.
Her mother, who served in the Navy, still lives in the Pueblo of Laguna. Her father, a Marine, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Now, Haaland wants to bring diversity to Congress, she said Friday, both as a woman of color and as someone who feels she’s lived through many of the difficulties facing the constituents of New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District. As a single mom, she knows what it’s like to struggle, she said, whether that meant facing the reality of food stamps or trouble accessing affordable healthcare.
“I think it's important to always have diversity, in our Congress or anywhere, but you also need diversity not just for women of color who are most underrepresented, but diversity in different walks of life,” Haaland said.
Haaland faced a crowded Democratic race with four opponents on Tuesday. Haaland and two of her opponents, former U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez and former law school professor and activist Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez, raised the most money and came out as frontrunners.
But the race was diverse among the remaining five candidates in gender, career and ethnicity — a reflection of the majority-minority state. The current governor, Susana Martinez, was the first Hispanic female elected governor in the history of the United States.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/deb-haaland1-ht-ml-180605_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
More than 10 percent of the state is Native American, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Lonna Atkeson, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico, said before the race that the diversity in the state and its legislature set New Mexico up as more likely to heed this new ground for Native American candidates.
“From that perspective, we’re uniquely qualified because we’ve been doing it for a long time,” she said of New Mexico.
WATCH LIVE TUESDAY: You can watch livestreaming coverage of all the primary action starting Tuesday at 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific on ABCNews.com or on the ABC News app available on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Apple TV App Store, and Roku Channel Store.
Don’t forget to sign up for Midterm Elections Alerts to get more coverage of this year’s election season from our powerhouse politics team.
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