Deb Haaland Biography | Husband | Net value
Debra Anne Haaland (born December 2, 1960) is an American politician who serves as the 54th Secretary of the Interior of the United States. She was a Democrat who served as the leader of the New Mexico Democratic Party from 2015 to 2017 and as the state’s first congressional district representative from 2019 to 2021. Haaland is from the Laguna Pueblo tribe and is a member.
Deb Haaland Biography
Debra Anne Haaland
December 2, 1960
Winslow, Arizona, United States
BA, JD, University of New Mexico
Politician
Democratic
Instagram: @secdebhaaland
Twitter: @SecDebHaaland
Early life
Deb Haaland was born on December 2, 1960 in Winslow, Arizona. Haaland belongs to the Pueblo de Laguna tribe. Since the early 1200s, the matrilineal tribe has lived in what is now New Mexico. Haaland describes herself as a 35th generation New Mexican due to her ancestry.
Mary Toya, Haaland’s mother, was a former naval serviceman who worked in Indian education for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Toya made sure her children had a relationship with their maternal grandparents. While working outdoors with his grandfather and watching his grandmother cook, Haaland learned to cook. John David Haaland, the father of Deb Haaland, was a Norwegian American born in Minnesota. He was awarded a Silver Star for his service with the US Marine Corps in Vietnam.
In 1978, she graduated from Highland High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She spent several years working as a baker before enrolling at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where she eventually earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1994. Deb Haaland then started a business that marketed her own salsa. She returned to the University of New Mexico and resumed her studies, earning a law degree in 2006.
Career
Haaland became involved in Democratic politics while in law school. She participated in John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004 as a volunteer. In 2008 and 2012, she also volunteered for Barack Obama’s presidential and re-election campaigns. From 2013 to 2015, she worked as Tribal Administrator of San Felipe Pueblo.
Despite being defeated in her bid for lieutenant governor of New Mexico in 2014, she was chosen to lead the state’s Democratic Party. She served one term as the state party leader (2015-2017). Haaland won the election to represent New Mexico’s first congressional district in the United States House of Representatives on November 6, 2018. Sharice Davids, a Kansas resident Democrat and member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, was also elected to the House that day. The first Native American women to be elected to Congress were Haaland and Davids.
Haaland served on the House Committee on Natural Resources when she was a congresswoman. She worked to restrict oil and gas development on federal lands in that capacity. She also promoted the Green New Deal, a climate change campaign supported by many liberal Democrats.
Deb Haaland has also backed the “Medicare for All” initiative, which would have established a national single-payer health insurance system. She tried to get federal funds released to Native American tribal governments to help them deal with the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak once it started hitting the United States.
Haaland was easily re-elected to her House seat in the November 2020 general election. The Democratic candidate Joe Biden beat the incumbent republican donald trump in the presidential contest. Haaland was chosen by Biden, the president-elect, to lead the United States Department of the Interior. The majority of federally owned lands and natural resources, as well as Native American and Alaska Native reservation communities, are under the control of this agency.
Biden praised Haaland as “a barrier-breaking public servant” who would be “ready from day one to defend our environment and fight for a clean energy future” at the time of his Dec. 17 announcement. However, a number of Senate Republicans strenuously disagreed with Haaland on energy and land management issues, delaying the confirmation process. On March 15, 2021, the Senate finally approved Haaland’s nomination for Secretary of the Interior with a 51-40 majority. The next day, she is sworn in.
Private life
Haaland has one child, Somáh, whom she raised alone. His hobbies include gourmet cooking and marathon running. Haaland and Skip Sayre were married in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico on August 28, 2021. On July 17, 2022, Haaland fractured his left fibula while hiking in Shenandoah National Park.
Net value
Based on a review of his financial statement and available documents, Forbes believes that Haaland has no personal net worth. Almost all assets, liabilities, and sources of income must be disclosed by appointees and federal officials on disclosure forms that the Office of Government Ethics collects but does not verify. The nearly empty dossier Haaland provided in December 2020. It specifies two items: an annual contribution from the tribe of $175 and university loans worth up to $50,000.
Social media handles
Deb Haaland is very active on social networks. As of this writing, she has 159,600 Twitter followers and over 61,700 Instagram followers. Thanks to the following handles, you can follow her on social networks.
- Instagram: @secdebhaaland
- Twitter: @SecDebHaaland
