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- By Levi Rickert
WAUSAU, Wisc. — Tricia Zunker (Ho-Chunk Nation), the Democratic candidate for Congress in next week’s special election, will get the help of former Assistant of the Interior – Indian Affairs Ada Deer tonight in a virtual fundraiser. .
Zunker is running to replace Rep. Sean Duffy, who retired last year to spend more time with his family, in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional district. The election will be held next Tuesday, May 12. Zunker impressively beat off a challenger in the Democratic primary with 89 percent of the vote in February. She faces GOP challenger Wisconsin state Sen. Tom Tiffany.
“Ada Deer is a trailblazer. She is the first Native American woman to run for Congress in Wisconsin and has paved the way for other Indigenous women like me. I am incredibly humbled and deeply honored to have her support,” Zunker said to Native News Online on Tuesday.
Photo courtesy: Madison 365
Deer (Menominee) is a fellow Wisconsin resident, who now lives in retirement in the city of Madison. Deer served as the first woman to run the Bureau of Indian Affairs within the U.S. Department of the Interior-Indian Affairs. She served in that position during the Clinton administration.
Zunker currently serves on the Ho-Chunk Nation’s Supreme Court as an associate judge.
If elected, Zunker will be the first American Indian woman to represent Wisconsin in Congress and the third American Indian woman to serve in Congress. She would join Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M) and Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS), who made history in November 2018 when they were the first American Indian women ever elected to Congress.
Zunker has been endorsed by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Kamala Harris, Rep. Deb Haaland, former Rep. Dave Obey, EMILY's list, and more.
Register for the event here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMlcOippjsoGNc5RCorwP-oFQxINC2tftIE
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