Does RPNM Have a Plan Beyond "Pro-Trump, Pro-Gun, Pro-God"?

While Gary Johnson seized the Governor's Office in 1994 with the support of Native Americans the Republican Party of New Mexico (RPNM) lost a golden opportunity to build lasting relationships with Native Americans.

1994: Indian Gaming as the Defining Issue

In 1994, political newcomer Gary Johnson defeated Democratic heavyweight Governor Bruce King. His victory wasn't luck—it was strategy. Johnson recognized that Indian gaming was the defining issue for Native Americans.

At the time, tribes and pueblos across the country were embracing gaming as a path to economic independence. In New Mexico, Governor King insisted he had no unilateral authority to legalize it. Johnson promised that, if elected, his first act would be to approve Indian gaming.

That message resonated. Johnson stripped away King's Native American support and won the governorship with 50 percent of the vote to King's 40 percent.

But the RPNM never built on that breakthrough. Since then, the party has offered little more than lip service—recycling the same token Native American Republicans or parading Spanish American Republicans through Indian Country as though one "brown face" were interchangeable with another.

The Missed Opportunity

It is possible to earn Native American support—but it requires respect and understanding. New Mexico is home to the Navajo Nation, two tribes, and thirty-nine pueblos. They are not a monolithic voting bloc. Each has distinct needs, such as water rights and infrastructure projects—priorities once championed by Senator Pete Domenici, who delivered federal water projects in western and eastern New Mexico for Native American entities while providing water for all.

2023: Sovereignty as the Defining Issue

Fast forward three decades. In June 2023, My article, Secretary of Interior Haaland Seizes Control Of Rival Navajo Nation Native Lands argued that Native American sovereignty would be the defining issue of future campaigns. The spark came when Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland blocked the Navajo Nation from developing their oil and gas reserves around Chaco Canyon.

While many were shocked that the first Native American Secretary of the Interior, Haaland, would be the first since the end of the Indian Wars to trample Native American Sovereignty. The RPNM leaders were appalled that Haaland was anti-oil and gas.

Haaland's tenure as Secretary of the Interior demonstrates her loyalties, first to her family (Haaland allowed her daughter and an activist group to occupy a section of the Interior's headquarters in Washington), her pueblo, and the 19 pueblos collectively. Could Native communities trust her? I doubted it. And it was already clear she had her eye on the Governor's Office in 2023. Two years later, Republicans are scrambling to keep Haaland out of the Governor's office, too little and too late.

2025: Sandia Pueblo Backs Bregman

Those doubts were confirmed this summer. On July 29, 2025, the Santa Fe New Mexican ran the headline:
"Sandia Pueblo Endorses Bregman, Snubs Haaland."

Days later, the Albuquerque Journal quoted Sandia Pueblo Governor Felix Chaves, who praised Bregman's commitment to sovereignty and water rights:

"We trust that you will continue to be a strong advocate for all pueblos and the people of New Mexico."
But why didn't any reporters ask the obvious question? Why would a pueblo trust European American Bregman over fellow Native American Haaland to defend sovereignty? And where is the RPNM in this debate? Why not claim the legacy of Domenici and champion sovereignty and water rights as Republican issues?

Where is the RPNM?

The RPNM seems to have written off both the Albuquerque metropolitan area and Native American voters.

Meanwhile, two of its most visible figures, Greg Hull and Duke Rodriguez, have yet to present credible visions for New Mexico.

• Greg Hull, mayor of the best-run city in New Mexico, hasn't explained how he would bring that success to the Governor's Office.
• Duke Rodriguez, a successful marijuana peddler, has yet to show that marijuana hasn't contributed to New Mexicans' well-being decline.
• Who Else?
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