Navajo’s narrow list of 15 presidential candidates in primaries | Health, medicine and fitness

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Natalia Sells has a list of qualities she wants to see in the next Navajo Nation president: Approachable. Customizable. inspiring. Someone who upholds traditional values, but who is also progressive.

She, along with thousands of other tribesmen, will vote on Tuesday for one of 15 presidential candidates in the impartial race. The field includes incumbent Jonathan Nez, the former Navajo Vice President, Frank Dayish Jr., the former Trial Attorney General Ethel Branch, attorney Justin Jones, and Buu Van Nygren, the 2018 vice presidential candidate.

“I try to go into this with an open mind,” Sells says. “It is a very topical subject in my family. Everyone votes differently. I think it will be an interesting election season.”

The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American reservation in the US, spanning 69,930 square miles of high desert, forests, wind-swept plateaus, and mountains bordering New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Its population of 406,000 is second only to the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, which has 420,000 enrolled members.

The top two votes in the Navajo primaries advance to the November general election. More than 122,000 Navajos are registered to vote, and the tribe generally has about 50% turnout for the primaries. Polling stations are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mountain time.

Nez’s term has been dominated by the response to the coronavirus pandemic, with him taking some of the strictest measures in the US to slow the virus. The strain had one of the highest infection rates in the country at one point. A mask mandate on the reservation remains in effect.

Nez recently passed legislation to spend more than $1 billion in federal pandemic funding to improve the water, sanitation, housing and communications infrastructure where many residents live without basic necessities. It came after months of arguing between the tribe’s executive and legislature over what should be prioritized.

“Continuity is very important, I’m sure of that for our Navajo people, because the learning curve is going to be high,” Nez told The Associated Press. “We offer continuity in our administration, not on-the-job training. We will continue to carry out these projects.”

Sells, a law student at Arizona State University, said she struggles with experience about change. Whoever wins, she wants to make sure they find ways to bring the younger generation back to the reservation.

“They want people to come home, but the pay doesn’t always match the skills,” says Sells, who votes in Teec Nos Pos. “And besides, there is actually no housing.”

Branch is one of six candidates hoping to become the first woman to become president of the Navajo Nation. Only one woman, Lynda Lovejoy, made it through the tribe’s primaries, while some Navajos warned that a woman as president portends an ominous future for the tribe. That idea is not so prevalent now, at least not in public.

Branch was critical of what she said was the Navajo Nation’s slow response to the pandemic under the Nez administration. She co-founded an emergency fund that raised millions of dollars to provide food, water and other necessities for the Navajo and Hopi families.

“A lot of resources are going to Window Rock, a lot of money is going to Window Rock and it’s not getting to the people,” she said at a recent meeting in Kayenta.

The other women in the race are: educator Dolly Mason; scholar Leslie Tsosie; Chinle Chapter President Rosanna Jumbo-Fitch; Frankie Davis, who has advocated extracting natural resources; Sandra Jeff, former New Mexico state legislator, and Emily Ellison, who say she will push the federal government to give the Navajo Nation title to her country if elected.

All candidates speak Navajo, but to varying degrees.

Nygren sees himself as a young, energetic diplomat bent on running the government more efficiently and collaborating with local lawmakers on initiatives. He said the Navajo Nation’s internal regulations have brought economic development to a halt and the tribe has failed to delve into tourism as a major source of income.

“If you come in really stubborn and ‘my way or the highway,’ the Navajo Nation Council will rein you in as soon as possible,” said Nygren, who has a background in construction management.

Jones said he already knows the problems with the tribal government as a lawyer who has sued over elections, Navajo preference in labor law and other things. He uses his platform to support small businesses such as flea market sellers, cleaning services, waste management companies and contractors.

“Once the Navajo-owned companies get up and running, they’re going to hire Navajo people,” he said. “That means the Navajo dollar will continue to exist.”

Dayish is one of the few experienced politicians in the group and has work experience in housing, mining, aviation and healthcare. He ran for president in 2006 but came in third behind Lovejoy. His goal is to increase the number of homes with electricity and running water, high school students and college graduates, and the tribal budget by 5 percentage points.

“At least we have a goal,” he said. “Obviously we want to go 100%, but based on all the regulations, all the funding constraints, we would be facing that.”

The other candidates are: Greg Bigman, President of the Diné College Board of Regents; Ts’ah Bii Kin Chapter Manager Earl Sombrero; and Dineh Benally and Kevin Cody, both of whom ran for tribal presidency in 2018.