Patrick DePoe has high hopes that he will create “a new pathway” in American politics by becoming the first Native American to win election to a statewide office in the Pacific Northwest.
DePoe, the former vice chair of the Makah Tribe, is one of seven candidates vying to replace Hilary Franz as Washington state’s public lands commissioner.
It’s an uphill fight for DePoe, who will face his first big test in a primary election Tuesday, when voters in the Evergreen State will pick the top two finishers who will square off in the Nov. 5 general election.
“I am running to break down a wall that has existed not just in Washington state but across the country,” DePoe, 42, said in a recent interview. “There hasn’t been but a handful of statewide-elected Native Americans in the history of the United States. … I’m trying to create a new pathway here.”
