Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez plans to challenge Rep. Eli Crane

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed the counties included in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District. The district includes Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo and Yavapai counties with portions of Graham, Maricopa, Mohave and Pinal counties.

Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is planning a Democratic challenge to incumbent Republican Rep. Eli Crane in Arizona's 2nd Congressional District, he announced Monday.

Nez, 48, was born in Tuba City and grew up in Shonto, both on the Navajo Nation.

He was vice president of the Navajo Nation from 2015-19 and became president in 2019 and served one term. He has a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's in public administration from Northern Arizona University.

He also served as a Navajo County supervisor and in other tribal government roles.

He and his wife, Phefelia Herbert-Nez, have two children and live in Flagstaff, and he held his deep ties to the region over Crane, who lives in Oro Valley, which is Arizona's 6th Congressional District.

“One of the biggest differences is I’m a native of the district,” Nez said Sunday in an interview with The Arizona Republic. “I didn’t move here to run for office. I’ve been here. My family has been here. I was born and raised in the district and I’m still in the district.”

Nez said he was inspired to run because of the "craziness" he's seeing in Washington, D.C. among "MAGA" Republicans.

“The last straw is what is happening now in Congress,” Nez said.

“We have got a war against Hamas in Israel. We have a war in Ukraine right now. But the House of Representatives can’t do anything unless there is a speaker.”

Crane has been front and center in the dispute among House Republicans over who should serve as House Speaker since January when he was among the last holdouts to name Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. speaker.

Crane also was among the eight Republicans who recently joined with Democrats voting to oust McCarthy.

“Is it for the best interests of the country?” Nez asked. “Or is it for himself and this group he is beginning to follow a lot more in D.C.”

The Navajo Nation previously was represented by Rep. Tom O'Halleran, D-Ariz., as part of Arizona's 1st Congressional District, before redistricting realigned the map, which made it part of the Republican-leaning 2nd District that Crane won easily.

O'Halleran had served three terms but lost to Crane with about 46% of the vote to Crane's 54%.

The sprawling district now includes Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo and Yavapai counties with portions of Graham, Maricopa, Mohave and Pinal counties.

It covers parts of the low desert south of Phoenix, widening east to the New Mexico border, then north to Utah and curving back west over Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon.

And within that area are 14 of Arizona's 22 tribes, including the Navajo Nation.

The Navajo Nation has the biggest land base of any U.S. tribe and its population of about 400,000 is rivaled only by the Cherokee Nation. More than half of the Navajo people live off the reservation.

The most dramatic part of Crane's first campaign for Congress was the crowded 2022 GOP Primary. Aided by the endorsement of President Donald Trump, Crane, 43, edged out Republican Walt Blackman in that race.

Nez lost his own bid for reelection in 2022 as Navajo Nation President, getting edged out by Buu Nygren by about 3,500 votes.

Nez told Indian Country Today late last year, after Crane's cruise to victory, that it would be difficult for a Democrat to win the district.

“There's just a different party that's in control in terms of votes for that district,” Nez told the publication. “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.”

But on Sunday he said he is more optimistic about his chances.

“I can see a path to victory because I am able to work both sides of the aisle,” Nez said.

Nez's entrance to the race sets up a possible showdown over COVID-19 policies. Crane's 2022 campaign used a slogan of "No vaccine mandates, no lockdowns, no tyranny."

Meanwhile, Nez as president of the Navajo Nation supported the tribe's notably aggressive response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included a mask mandate, weekend lockdowns, checkpoints and other measures beyond those seen elsewhere in the state.

"I probably lost the (Navajo presidential) election because of those pretty tough protocols," Nez said. "But knowing what I know now. I step back and say I would do the same thing the same way. I wanted to save lives. It was not about my next election. It was for the health and well-being of our residents."

Nez and Crane also have widely divergent views regarding uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. Nez has supported a ban on new mines in the area. President Joe Biden earlier this year created a new national monument in the area that will do just that.

Crane opposed the Biden move.

"Biden is shamelessly politicizing the Grand Canyon to appease the radical left. Uranium is critical to national security and this action makes us more reliant on foreign nations," Crane said on social media after the announcement.

Nez disagrees.

“We’ve seen the horrible effects of uranium mining to many of our people in Arizona in terms of high cancer rates,” Nez said.

“That’s because the federal government allowed for uranium to be extracted but they never cleaned it up … So when it comes to uranium extraction, it’s not good for the environment and it’s not good for the people that live in the area.”

He added a bill that would increase the compensation for people who lived downwind of nuclear testing is another example of something being held up in Congress because of Washington gridlock.

But tribal energy issues don't always break along traditional Republican-Democrat party lines.

Crane, with Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., introduced the Energy Opportunities for All Act, which would nullify the Interior Department's land withdrawal created around Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, preventing oil and gas leases, which some tribal members opposed.

Crane has been involved in multiple issues assisting Native American tribes in his district since taking office.

He reintroduced legislation to create a reservation for the San Juan Southern Paiute people, which first was proposed by O'Halleran. The tribe won federal recognition in 1989 and in 2000 signed a deal with the Navajo Nation to create a 5,400-acre homeland, but the treaty needs to be ratified by Congress.

Crane also was involved in helping the Navajo Nation access badly needed gravel pits to shore up dirt roads. Crane wrote to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland about the issue.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jonathan Nez to challenge Eli Crane in 2024