{"id":184331,"date":"2025-08-04T14:21:47","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T19:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=184331"},"modified":"2025-08-04T14:22:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T19:22:56","slug":"arizona-mirror-former-navajo-nation-president-mounts-another-run-for-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/08\/04\/arizona-mirror-former-navajo-nation-president-mounts-another-run-for-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Mirror: Former Navajo Nation president mounts another run for Congress"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Jonathan<\/a> ]
Jonathan Nez speaks at a get-out-the-vote event hosted by the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona on October 12, 2024. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror<\/figcaption>\r\n
\u2018I am a fighter\u2019: Jonathan Nez launches second bid to flip Arizona\u2019s largest congressional district<\/div>\r\n
Monday, August 4, 2025<\/div>\r\n
By Shondiin Silversmith, Arizona Mirror<\/a> <\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has launched another bid for Congress, seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Rep. Eli Crane and flip Arizona\u2019s largest congressional district.<\/p>

\u201cI am a fighter, and now more than ever, we need someone to warrior up and fight for Arizona,\u201d Nez said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThe only thing Crane has fought for since taking office is taking money from our hard-working families to give to billionaires.<\/p>

\u201cMr. Crane has betrayed us,\u201d he added.<\/p>

Nez, a Democrat, ran against Crane in 2024, when Crane won the seat with 54% of the vote to Nez\u2019s 45%<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>

Crane, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, lives in Oro Valley, outside the district. He served in the U.S. Navy for 13 years, where he joined the SEAL team, and operated a small business called Bottle Breacher until he sold it in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>

<\/i>

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.<\/p> <\/div>

SUBSCRIBE <\/div> <\/div> <\/a>

In the 2024 general election, Nez won the heavily tribal northern counties of Apache, Coconino and Navajo, as well as Graham. However, Crane secured the deep red counties of Yavapai, Gila, Pinal and parts of Maricopa and Mohave counties.<\/p>

Congressional District 2 covers about 60% of Arizona, and tribal land makes up a large portion of that area, but is sparsely populated.<\/p>

The district includes 14 Tribal Nations in northern, eastern, and central Arizona, with Indigenous people making up about 20% of the district\u2019s total population.<\/p>

If elected, Nez would be the first Native American member of Congress from Arizona, a state that is home to 22 federally recognized Tribal Nations.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cAs Navajo Nation President, I worked across the aisle to deliver water security and lower prices for Northern Arizona, and that\u2019s the kind of leadership we need in Congress,\u201d Nez said in a statement.<\/p>

The Second Congressional District stretches from south of Phoenix to the borders of New Mexico to the east and Utah to the north, encompassing much of eastern and northern Arizona.\u00a0<\/p>

The district was redrawn in 2021 during the once-a-decade redistricting process, to include heavily GOP Yavapai County, and Republicans have a strong registration advantage as a result. The redrawn district gave the GOP a seven-point edge, a stark difference from the nearly evenly split district it replaced.<\/p>

Nez was born in Tuba City and raised in Shonto, on the Navajo Nation. He has 18 years of public service experience, starting at the age of 29 as the vice president of the Shonto Chapter House on the Navajo Nation.\u00a0<\/p>

He would go on to serve on the Navajo Nation Council and the Navajo County Board of Supervisors before being elected Navajo Nation vice president in 2015 and then president in 2019. Shortly after that he led the Navajo people through the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>

Nez criticized Crane\u2019s recent actions in Congress, saying they have \u201cdisproportionately harmed\u201d people in his congressional district, especially Crane\u2019s votes in support of the \u201cbig, beautiful bill\u201d that will slash Medicaid and funding for public media.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cEli Crane voted to gut Arizonans\u2019 health care and take food off our tables \u2013 all to pay for tax cuts for billionaires,\u201d Nez said. \u201cNearly 1 in 3 people in our district depend on Medicaid.\u201d<\/p>

Two counties in the district \u2014 Apache County and Navajo County \u2014 have some of the highest county-level proportions of seniors on Medicaid in the country, according to Nez\u2019s campaign.<\/p>

\u201cThousands are going to lose their health coverage and hospitals across our region \u2013 in Page, Winslow, and Globe \u2013 could be forced to shut down,\u201d he added. \u201cCrane\u2019s priorities might go over well in the wealthy suburbs where he is from, but not in rural Arizona.\u201d<\/p>

Leaders across Arizona have backed Nez\u2019s bid.\u00a0<\/p>

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly said that the people of Arizona deserve leaders who work hard for them, and he believes that Nez is precisely that kind of leader.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cHe listens to people, and he solves problems because he cares about families in rural Arizona,\u201d Kelly said in a statement.<\/p>

During his time in the U.S. Navy and as a senator, Kelly said he has been exposed to examples of both strong and poor leadership.\u00a0<\/p>

When Crane voted to \u201ccut Arizonans\u2019 healthcare and threaten rural hospitals to help pay for a tax cut for billionaires,\u201d Kelly said it was an example of poor leadership.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cWe need Jonathan Nez in Congress to help undo that damage, protect our healthcare, and preserve our access to clean water,\u201d he added. \u201cHe\u2019s got my full support.\u201d<\/p>

Arizona\u2019s other U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego echoed Kelly\u2019s remarks in his support of Nez, highlighting how Nez has proven his leadership by spending his life fighting for Native communities, protecting public lands, and standing up for the people of Northern Arizona.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m proud to support him because Arizona needs a fighter in Congress who knows how to advocate and deliver for rural and tribal communities,\u201d Gallego, also a Democrat, said in a statement. \u201cJonathan has the experience and vision to take on Eli Crane and deliver real results for Arizona\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said she has witnessed Nez work and watched him step up to help Arizonans afford critical needs.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cHe\u2019s brought resources to Northern Arizona to install high-speed internet, improve access to electricity, and bring down those costs,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cHe\u2019s also been a very strong negotiator when it comes to protecting our water rights. I\u2019m proud to support him as he runs for Congress.\u201d<\/p>

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.<\/p> <\/div>

SUPPORT <\/div> <\/div> <\/a>