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- By Levi Rickert
Native Vote 2026. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) on Monday elevated 12 candidates to its highly competitive Red to Blue program — a key designation reserved for top-tier House challengers.
The initiative is designed to boost Democrats running in the nation’s most competitive and potentially flippable congressional districts, many of them currently held by Republicans. Candidates selected for Red to Blue receive strategic backing, fundraising support, and organizational resources from House Democrats’ campaign arm as they work to turn battleground seats blue in 2026.
Of the 12 named, two are Native Americans running for Congress: former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, who is running for Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, and Michigan State Senator Sean McCann (Citizen Potawatomi Nation), who is running for Michigan’s 4th Congressional District.
Both are seeking the Democratic nomination in their respective congressional districts. If nominated, Nez would face Republican Rep. Eli Crane in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District. In Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, McCann, if he secures the Democratic nomination, would challenge Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga, a supporter of President Donald Trump’s policies. Huizenga voted to ensure ICE agents were paid during last year’s federal government shutdown.
“Today the DCCC named my campaign to their Red to Blue program – showing the power and strength of our grassroots campaign in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District,” Nez said in a statement on Monday. “As I travel through this beautiful district, one thing has become clear: the hard working people of rural Arizona can no longer afford the policies of Congressman Eli ‘High Costs’ Crane.”
Huizenga was first elected to Congress in 2010, representing Michigan’s 2nd Congressional District beginning in 2011. Following redistricting, he now represents Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, which includes all of Allegan and Van Buren counties, along with portions of Berrien, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, and Ottawa counties.
“Rising costs are crushing Southwest Michigan families, but Bill Huizenga isn’t working for us: he’s working hard to line his own pockets while we fall further behind,” McCann said in a press release. “I’m running for Congress because Bill Huizenga has had plenty of time to make a difference — it’s time someone actually gets results for Southwest Michigan.”
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