Jourdan Bennett-Begaye
ICT
WASHINGTON – Jonathan Nez is not giving up on becoming the first Native American to represent Congress from Arizona. The former Navajo Nation president announced Tuesday morning another congressional bid.
Nez, a Democrat, will be running in Arizona’s second congressional district, the same district in which he lost to Republican Eli Crane in the November 2024 election. Nez joins a 2026 candidate pool that includes now-incumbent Crane and Eric Descheenie, a Democrat, according to the announcement released at 5 a.m. ET Tuesday.
“I am a fighter, and now more than ever we need someone to warrior up and fight for Arizona,” Nez said in a news release. “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.
“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,” he said.
Nez said that Crane’s vote for the rescission package harms constituents in the district, home to Apache and Navajo counties, because it cuts many of them off Medicaid, affects their hospitals, and cuts funding for tribal media. The district houses two tribal radio stations, KGHR on the Navajo Nation and KUYI on the Hopi Reservation.
On Election Day in November, Apache County voters experienced barriers to vote. Voters showed up learning that the county’s election equipment wouldn’t work, that emergency ballots had run out, or that their polling place had changed. The Navajo Times reported that “some voters faced wait times of two to three hours, with others forced to leave without casting a ballot because of time constraints.” And all this in cold temperatures.
It was only in December 2022 that Nez told ICT that he was keeping his options open when asked if he would consider running for Congress in Arizona, weeks after he lost his second term as Navajo Nation president to Buu Nygren. “Of course, you keep your options open, you never say no to anything,” he said.
“There’s just a different party that’s in control in terms of votes for that district,” Nez said then. “I hate to say it, but it’s going to be very difficult for any Democrat to run for that position. Unless there’s a change in the election.”
Some could say he changed that a bit in the 2024 election.
The Cook Political Report wrote in February that Nez makes the race competitive. “Democratic strategists acknowledge that this district is a reach for them to flip, but they believe Nez could make this a competitive race — particularly if the national political environment favors Democrats,” it stated.
He performed better than Kamala Harris in District 2 by 3.5 points and better than incumbent Sen. Ruben Gallego, according to the news release.
District 2 is home to 14 of the state’s 22 federally recognized tribes.
The general election occurs on Nov. 3, 2026, and could shift control of Congress.