Obama endorses Deb Haaland for New Mexico governor

Former President Barack Obama endorsed Deb Haaland for governor of New Mexico in a one-minute video posted on social media on Oct. 7.

"New Mexico, you have an opportunity to elect a real fighter as your next governor: Deb Haaland," Obama said in the video.

Obama said he and Haaland started out as organizers and learned that leadership is about listening. "That's what Deb did on my campaign, knocking on thousands of doors in Indian Country," he said. Haaland was New Mexico's Native American vote director for Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, according to her campaign.

"As governor, Deb will lower costs, strengthen education, build safer communities, and protect your healthcare because she knows what families are up against," Obama said. "As a single mom, Deb relied on SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, and started a small business."

Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a former U.S. secretary of the interior, said in a statement that she was "honored to earn the support of President Barack Obama for my campaign." She said that, like Obama, she started as an organizer listening to New Mexicans and is running "to take those concerns to the Roundhouse and create a New Mexico where everyone can thrive."

Obama also endorsed Haaland's first run for Congress in 2018, New Mexico Political Report reported.

Haaland, a Democrat, faces Republican Gregg Hull, a former three-term mayor of Rio Rancho. An Albuquerque Journal poll conducted Oct. 1 to 9 found Haaland at 49% and Hull at 42%, with 9% undecided.

Election Day is Nov. 3. Early voting began Oct. 6 and runs through Oct. 31.

If elected, Haaland would be the first Native American woman elected governor in the United States, according to The Associated Press and New Mexico Political Report.