Tara MacLean Sweeney (born July 28, 1973) is an American businesswoman and former political appointee who served as assistant secretary of the interior for Native American affairs from July 2018 to January 2021. Sweeney is an

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

and previously served in the cabinet of Alaska Governor

Frank Murkowski Frank Hughes Murkowski (born March 28, 1933) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a United States Senate, United States Senator representing Alaska from 1981 to 2002 and as t ...

. In 2022, she unsuccessfully ran to represent Alaska in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. The election was won by Democrat Mary Peltola.

Early life and education

A daughter of Bryan MacLean, a teacher, and Eileen MacLean (née Panigeo), who served as a Democratic member of the

Alaska Legislature The Alaska State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives (lower house) and the 20-member Alaska Senate (upper house). There a ...

, she is of Iñupiaq descent. She is a citizen of the Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government. One of her ancestors translated the Bible into the Inupiaq language.Steve Straehley and David Wallechinsk
Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs: Who Is Tara Sweeney?
Retrieved January 17, 2019. Sweeney grew up in the towns of Wainwright,

Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...

, Unalakleet, and Utqiagvik in rural Alaska. In 1991, she graduated from Barrow High School. Sweeney attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and labor relations in 1998.

Business career in Alaska

For almost two decades she has worked for

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, or ASRC, is one of 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. ASRC was incorporated in Alaska on June 22, ...

(ASRC) with subsidiaries, in various positions. The last was as Executive Vice President of External Affair, serving as the company's spokesperson. In this capacity, she advocated for opening the

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR, pronounced as “''ANN-warr''”) or Arctic Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States, on traditional Inupiaq, Iñupiaq and Gwichʼin, Gwich'in lands. The refuge is of ...

for oil drilling. She has a birthright co-ownership in the company. In October 2013, Sweeney started a one-year term as co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives.Alaska Native executive Tara Sweeney named to top Bureau of Indian Affairs job
Indianz.com. October 17, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2019. From 2015 to 2017, Sweeney served as chair of the Arctic Economic Council as a representative of the

Inuit Circumpolar Council The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC; formerly the Inuit Circumpolar Conference) is a multinational non-governmental organization (NGO) and Indigenous Peoples' Organization (IPO) representing the 180,000 Inuit and Yupik (sometimes referred to a ...

Political and government career

In 2003, Sweeney joined the cabinet of Alaska Governor

as Special Assistant for Rural Affairs and Education. During the

2014 United States Senate election in Alaska The 2014 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Alaska, State of Alaska, concurrently with the 2014 Alaska gubernatorial election, election of the go ...

, Sweeney served as co-chair of Republican Dan Sullivan's Senate campaign. She said that the Democratic Senate majority "feverishly worked on an agenda that stifled growth and economic opportunities in Alaska". As Assistant Secretary, Sweeney wrote an

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...

endorsing Sullivan's reelection in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. She said that Sullivan's opponent Al Gross, who ran as an independent but was endorsed by the Democratic Party, supported "national Democrats' own radical, anti-Alaska agenda".

Bureau of Indian Affairs

In October 2017, Sweeney was nominated by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

as assistant secretary for Indian affairs. The

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is a select or special committee (United States Congress), committee of the United States Senate charged with oversight in matters related to the Native Americans in the United States, American Indian, Nati ...

unanimously recommended a full vote in the Senate, and she was unanimously confirmed in June 2018.Daniel Kirby (June 28, 2018
Senate unanimously confirms Tara Sweeney for Interior Department post
Ktuu.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019 During her confirmation hearing, she pledged to recuse herself from issues involving the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. She is the first

and second woman to oversee the Bureau of Indian Affairs. As assistant secretary, she faced calls for her resignation during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

crisis. She had proposed that federal stimulus funds earmarked for tribal governments should also be available to the

for-profit Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...

Alaska Native-owned corporations. On April 28, 2020 a federal district court blocked the inclusion of Alaska Native-owned corporations from receiving federal stimulus money earmarked for tribal governments. The Supreme Court heard the case on appeal. In June 2021, it reversed the lower court's decision, ruling that the 12 Alaska Native Regional Corporations were eligible for the CARES Act funding along with the tribes.

2022 congressional elections

In 2022, after U.S. Congressman

Don Young Donald Edwin Young (June 9, 1933 – March 18, 2022) was an American politician from Alaska. He is the List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service, longest-serving Republican Party (United States), Republican in House ...

death in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The deat ...

, Sweeney was one of many candidates to file to run both in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

(to be completed in August 2022) to complete the remainder of his unexpired term, and the subsequent regularly scheduled election to be held in November for a full-term. The special election was the first under Alaska's new election system of ranked choice or

instant runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where one or more eliminations are used to simulate runoff elections. When no candidate has a ...

. A nonpartisan

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

was the first step in determining the top four finishers who would advance to a general election. This system was also used in the November election. Some news outlets described Sweeney as a moderate Republican candidate. Iris Samuels of The ''

Anchorage Daily News The ''Anchorage Daily News'' is a daily newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska. The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorage, ...

'' described her as running, "on a pro-development, socially moderate platform, saying she supports

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

access." Sweeney received support from the largest Alaska Native corporations. Sweeney finished fifth in the primary election for the special election. After fourth-place primary finisher Al Gross withdrew his candidacy from the special election, there was an effort to have Sweeney replace him on the general election ballot. The Division of Elections issued a ruling that Sweeney could not be placed on the ballot for the special general election because Gross had withdrawn within 64 days of the election. This ruling survived a challenge before the

Alaska Supreme Court The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court for the U.S. state of Alaska. Its decisions are binding on all other Alaska state courts, and the only court its decisions may be appealed to is the Supreme Court of the United States. The Ala ...

. Sweeney did not protest the outcome. Sweeney instead ran as a

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

in the special general election. Her write-in effort in the August 16, 2022 special general election was unsuccessful. On August 16, 2022, Sweeney placed a distant fourth in the nonpartisan primary for the regularly scheduled election, thus qualifying for the November general election. She received less than 4% of the vote in this primary. Believing that her weak finish indicated a lack of a viable path to victory in the general election and citing fundraising difficulties, Sweeney soon ended her candidacy.

Personal life

Sweeney is married to Kevin Sweeney, a former aide to Senator

Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Alaska, having held the seat since 2002. She is the first woman ...

. The couple has two children and lives in Anchorage. She had a role in the 2011 film '' On the Ice''. The couple's son Ahmaogak had a role in the 2012 film '' Big Miracle''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Tara 1973 births 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century Inuit people 20th-century Inuit women 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Alaska Native people 21st-century Alaska Native people 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Inuit people 21st-century Inuit women 21st-century Native American politicians 21st-century Native American women Alaska Native women Alaska Republicans American actor-politicians American film actresses American Inuit women Businesspeople from Alaska Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Cornell University alumni Inuit actresses Inuit politicians Inupiat people Living people Native American actresses Native American women in politics People from Utqiagvik, Alaska First Trump administration personnel United States Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government Alaska Native actors