“That is a biography that enabled her to relate to many people in New Mexico, rather than being someone born with a silver spoon or someone who’s more from the elite political class,” Sanderoff said. Her story helped her appeal to New Mexico voters, said Brian Sanderoff, a New Mexico political analyst and president of Research & Polling Inc. She and her daughter often had to sleep at the house of a friend because Haaland couldn’t afford an apartment, she told Roll Call in 2019. She hadn’t yet gone to law school or launched her political career. Twenty years ago, Haaland was a single mother of a young daughter and was struggling to make ends meet. “Twenty years ago, I would have scratched my head and said, ‘No, I don’t think that would happen.’ But anyway, I’m so happy to be here!” she told the small crowd assembled in the desert. Haaland beamed when she stepped up to the podium, which was a little too tall for her. Democrats are hoping to convince voters that there’s more where that came from if they can hold onto both chambers of Congress in this fall’s midterm elections. She was back in her home state - joined by other senior Biden administration officials - to take a victory lap after Democrats eked out the biggest climate and renewable energy bill in history.Īdministration officials are canvassing the country to boast about their legislative victories under Biden’s watch. The Interior secretary wasn’t in New Mexico to schmooze with reporters on the sidelines. Haaland’s office declined to make her available for a brief interview at her event in New Mexico last month, citing a “tight schedule and group traveling.” ‘So happy to be here’ Haaland shows a leg injury to Energy Department Deputy Secretary David Turk at a Biden administration event on Aug. “Whether it’s because her team is being overly cautious or she simply doesn’t yet feel comfortable in the limelight, she probably needs to be a little bolder when it comes to representing the Department since she’s competing with others in the Cabinet who attract much more attention,” that person said. “The Secretary of the Interior has the enormous responsibility of being the Department’s biggest cheerleader and advocate, both in the press and with elected officials,” said a former senior official at the Obama Interior Department who requested anonymity to protect professional relationships. Still, some Democrats want to see Haaland take a more high-profile role in championing Interior’s policies publicly. Most of those, Schwartz said, have been conducted with national media outlets.Ĭovid-19 affected Haaland’s ability to hold large in-person press conferences at Interior’s headquarters, Schwartz said, but the secretary has held dozens of media events in states across the country, nearly 20 press conference calls and casual meetings with reporters. Under Haaland’s leadership, Schwartz said, Interior has “intentionally sought to diversify our media engagement across the Department and specifically with the Secretary to give opportunities to reporters and outlets - and thus audiences - who have been typically ignored.” Schwartz added that Haaland has given more than 100 one-on-one interviews since taking office, including 62 percent with reporters who identify as women and 45 percent with reporters of color. The Interior secretary - now 18 months into her tenure - isn’t a fixture on cable news like some of her colleagues, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Haaland’s comments to Turk about her recovery weren’t audible to a reporter seated in the front row of the press conference. Schwartz said this week that “her injury, which occurred outside of business hours and while she was in her personal capacity, was announced in a press release.” “We do not expect to issue any further details,” her communications director Melissa Schwartz told E&E News in a July email. The Interior Department has declined to comment further about how Haaland broke her leg. The broken fibula has slowed Haaland, a runner who completed the Boston Marathon last year in a respectable 4 hours and 58 minutes. She had ditched the orthopedic boot she’s been wearing lately and donned a pair of red sneakers more suitable for the rugged terrain. “It’s off the charts! In the middle of the desert in New Mexico.” “This is the nicest press conference I have ever been to, so thank you, whoever organized this,” she said.
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