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Former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado died on Tuesday at the age of 92, according to his family.
Campbell died of natural causes surrounded by his family, his daughter Shanan Campbell, announced. He is survived by his wife Linda, their two children, Shanan and Colin, as well as four grandchildren.
Originally a Democrat, Campbell switched to the Republican Party in 1995 while serving in the U.S. Senate, a seat he held from 1993 until his retirement in 2005 due to health reasons.
Before serving in the Senate, he held office in the U.S. House and the Colorado House.
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The first Native American to serve in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, Campbell was known for his passionate advocacy of Native American issues as well as his dress attire, which included cowboy boots, bolo ties and a ponytail.
He was a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe and said his ancestors were among more than 150 Native Americans, mostly women, children and elderly men, killed by U.S. soldiers while camped under a flag of truce on Nov. 29, 1864. He helped sponsor legislation to upgrade the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in southern Colorado, where the killings happened, to a national park.
Campbell was also a strong supporter of children’s rights, organized labor and fiscal conservatism.
A renowned master jeweler, Campbell has designs displayed at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.
“He was a master jeweler with a reputation far beyond the boundaries of Colorado. I will not forget his acts of kindness. He will be sorely missed,” Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said on X.
Colorado Democrat Gov. Jared Polis ordered flags to be lowered to half staff from sunrise to sunset on the day of Campbell’s service.
“He will be missed here in Colorado and across the country, and his contributions leave a lasting legacy to our state and nation,” Polis said on X.
Born April 13, 1933, in Auburn, California, Campbell also served in the Air Force during the Korean War.
He received a bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University in 1957. He also attended Meiji University in Tokyo from 1960 to 1964, was captain of the U.S. judo team at the 1964 Olympics and won a gold medal in the Pan American Games.
Additionally, he worked as a deputy sheriff in Sacramento County, California, coached the U.S. national judo team, operated his own dojo in Sacramento and taught high school classes.
Campbell was also a motorcycle-rider and cattle rancher, and he was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
The former lawmaker has driven the Capitol Christmas Tree across the country to Washington, D.C., on several occasions.
“He was truly one of a kind, and I am thinking of his family in the wake of his loss,” Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, a Democrat, said on X.
Campbell founded Ben Nighthorse Consultants, a lobbying firm that focused on federal policy, including Native American affairs and natural resources, following his retirement from public office. He also continued to design and craft American Indian jewelry after leaving Congress.
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Although he switched to the Republican Party in March 1995 after becoming angry with Democrats for killing a balanced-budget amendment in the Senate, Campbell said his principles never changed.
“It didn’t change me. I didn’t change my voting record. For instance, I had a sterling voting record as a Democrat on labor. I still do as a Republican. And on minorities and women’s issues,” he once said.
A social liberal and fiscal conservative, Campbell’s party switch outraged Democrat leaders.
“I get hammered from the extremes,” he said shortly after the switch. “I’m always willing to listen … but I just don’t think you can be all things to all people, no matter which party you’re in.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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