Jonathan Nez speaks at a get-out-the-vote event hosted by the Gila River Indian Community on Oct. 12, 2024. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror
Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has launched another bid for Congress, seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Rep. Eli Crane and flip Arizona’s largest congressional district.
“I am a fighter, and now more than ever, we need someone to warrior up and fight for Arizona,” Nez said in a statement. “The only thing Crane has fought for since taking office is taking money from our hard-working families to give to billionaires.
“Mr. Crane has betrayed us,” he added.
Nez, a Democrat, ran against Crane in 2024, when Crane won the seat with 54% of the vote to Nez’s 45%.
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.
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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.
Congressional District 2 covers about 60% of Arizona, and tribal land makes up a large portion of that area, but is sparsely populated.
The district includes 14 Tribal Nations in northern, eastern, and central Arizona, with Indigenous people making up about 20% of the district’s total population.
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.
“As Navajo Nation President, I worked across the aisle to deliver water security and lower prices for Northern Arizona, and that’s the kind of leadership we need in Congress,” Nez said in a statement.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nez criticized Crane’s recent actions in Congress, saying they have “disproportionately harmed” people in his congressional district, especially Crane’s votes in support of the “big, beautiful bill” that will slash Medicaid and funding for public media.
“Eli Crane voted to gut Arizonans’ health care and take food off our tables – all to pay for tax cuts for billionaires,” Nez said. “Nearly 1 in 3 people in our district depend on Medicaid.”
Two counties in the district — Apache County and Navajo County — have some of the highest county-level proportions of seniors on Medicaid in the country, according to Nez’s campaign.
“Thousands are going to lose their health coverage and hospitals across our region – in Page, Winslow, and Globe – could be forced to shut down,” he added. “Crane’s priorities might go over well in the wealthy suburbs where he is from, but not in rural Arizona.”
Leaders across Arizona have backed Nez’s bid.
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.
“He listens to people, and he solves problems because he cares about families in rural Arizona,” Kelly said in a statement.
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.
When Crane voted to “cut Arizonans’ healthcare and threaten rural hospitals to help pay for a tax cut for billionaires,” Kelly said it was an example of poor leadership.
“We need Jonathan Nez in Congress to help undo that damage, protect our healthcare, and preserve our access to clean water,” he added. “He’s got my full support.”
Arizona’s other U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego echoed Kelly’s 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.
“I’m proud to support him because Arizona needs a fighter in Congress who knows how to advocate and deliver for rural and tribal communities,” Gallego, also a Democrat, said in a statement. “Jonathan has the experience and vision to take on Eli Crane and deliver real results for Arizona’s future.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said she has witnessed Nez work and watched him step up to help Arizonans afford critical needs.
“He’s brought resources to Northern Arizona to install high-speed internet, improve access to electricity, and bring down those costs,” she said in a statement. “He’s also been a very strong negotiator when it comes to protecting our water rights. I’m proud to support him as he runs for Congress.”
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This post was originally authored and published by Shondiin Silversmith from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
