Winning the top state office would put Haaland — a former congresswoman, state party chairwoman and backroads political canvasser for President Barack Obama — at the helm of a financial windfall from the nation’s fastest growing zone for oil production, the Permian Basin that overlaps portions of New Mexico and western Texas.
Deb Haaland, who championed conservation and clean energy during her tenure as Interior secretary, has launched her Democratic campaign for governor of New Mexico, the nation's No. 2 oil production state.