Jayme Davis

ROLETTE – Rep. Jayme Davis, D-Rolette, has announced she will be running for the North Dakota State Senate. Davis has served in the House since 2023.

Among her biggest accomplishments in her freshman term, Davis lists the codifying of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) into the North Dakota Century Code.

“When we were worried that the Supreme Court would gut ICWA, I’m very honored to have worked to pass one of the strongest ICWA state laws in the US. Adding ICWA to the North Dakota Century Code protects the children of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, MHA Nation, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Spirit Lake Nation, and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate,” she said.

Davis is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band Chippewa Indians. In 2022, she was elected to represent District 9a in the North Dakota House of Representatives. In the 68th Legislative Assembly, Davis served on the Human Services and Political Subdivisions committees. In addition to codifying ICWA, she also authored a legislative study to combat racism directed at North Dakota high school athletes.

In November 2023, Judge Peter Welte for the District of North Dakota ruled the state’s 2021 legislative redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by illegally diluting Native Americans’ voting strength and denying them the opportunity to elect their preferred candidates to the Legislature. Because of this, North Dakota Legislative Districts 9 and 15 will be on the ballot this fall.