A DNC delegate, Butler enthused about Harris-Walz ticket

Mashantucket ― Connecticut’s two federally recognized Indian tribes, the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans, generally avoid endorsing candidates for office, particularly on the state and federal levels.

It’s not like they poll their voting-age members to determine whether there’s consensus among them.

But Rodney Butler, the Mashantucket chairman, makes no bones about his support for the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Butler was one of the 74 Connecticut delegates who voted for the pair at last week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

The delegation had overwhelmingly endorsed Harris in a virtual voice vote July 22, the day after President Joe Biden announced he was abandoning his bid for re-election.

No opposing votes were heard.

The convention was the fourth consecutive one Butler has attended as an at-large delegate, a string that started in Charlotte, N.C., in 2012, the year Barack Obama was nominated for a second term as president and Biden as vice president.

Butler attended the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine were nominated, and he participated in the 2020 convention that was largely held remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden and Harris were the nominees.

Connecticut’s delegation to the Chicago convention included state officers like Gov. Ned Lamont, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and Attorney General William Tong as well as U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and the state’s five U.S. representatives. Eight delegates were selected from each congressional district in addition to 14 at-large delegates. Five alternate delegates also were selected.

Butler said the Mashantuckets have had representation at Republican National Conventions, too.

“We live and work in a bipartisan world,” he said. “I’ve supported local Republicans like (state Sen.) Heather Somers and (state Reps.) Greg Howard and Holly Cheeseman.”

He said he’s enthused about the prospect of a Harris-Walz administration, which he believes will be favorable to Native Americans, which has been the case during Biden’s term.

“When you look at the record of this (current) administration through the lens of its policy toward Indian Country, its respect for sovereignty and advancing sovereignty, it’s been monumental,” he said. “It’s achieved so much, distributing ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding and infrastructure funding and taking land into trust for tribes. ...”

He noted the Biden administration has elevated many Native Americans to government positions, including Lynn Malerba, chief of the Mohegans, who was appointed U.S. treasurer in 2022. She is the first Native American to hold the position.

Butler said Harris demonstrated a commitment to tribes when she served as attorney general in California and has a platform for Indian Country. He said Walz has long been an advocate of Native Americans as governor.

“We’ve come a long way in Connecticut as far as tribe-state relations go, but they’re a beacon on the hill,” Butler said of Minnesota. “Walz embraces his tribal partners, and the tribal economy is strong.”

Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, would succeed Walz as governor if he is elected vice president. She would be the first Native American woman to serve as a U.S. governor.

“With all the reasons for Native Americans to vote for this ticket, that’s the cherry on top,” Butler said.

Butler met with Walz and Flanagan during Native American caucuses at the Chicago convention.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com