- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
Voters of the country’s largest Indian reservation, Navajo Nation, have elected Buu Nygren to serve as the Nation’s President for the next four years. Nygren challenged incumbent President Jonathan Nez.
Unofficial results from Tuesday’s general election show Nygren ousted former President Nez, who served in the role since 2015. Nygren and his running mate, Richelle Montoya, won 34,568 - 52.7 percent of the votes to Nez and his running mate, Chad Abeyta's 31,069 - 47.3 percent of the votes.
Montoya will be the first woman to serve as the Nation’s Vice President.
Nygren, 35, grew up in Red Mesa, Arizona. He has never before held political office, though he ran for Vice President alongside former Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley four years ago and lost to Nez. Nygren and Montoya campaigned on the need for economic and educational change to support business development, sustainable jobs, and strengthening the workforce in Navajo Nation.
Previously, Nygren worked in construction management. He is married to Arizona State Representative for District 7, Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren.
Nez, 47, previously served as a Council Delegate and a Board of Supervisor member. He selected Air Force veteran Chad Abeyta, 33, as his running mate. Abeyta holds a master’s of law in Indigenous people’s law and policy from the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Nez served as president during the COVID-19 pandemic, which posed the largest public health threat to Navajo Nation citizens in modern times.
Since the Navajo Nation began tracking COVID-19 cases on March 16, 2020, as of Nov. 3, 2022, there have been 76,651 positive cases and 1,936 deaths. At one point during the pandemic, the Nation was the epicenter of active cases in the world. Nez and his administration instituted measures — a lockdown and mask mandates — to slow the spread of the virus.
More Stories Like This
Native News Weekly (March 26, 2023): D.C. BriefsState-Funded Charter School Says Native 1st-Grader's Traditional Hair Violates Dress Code
Rep. Peltola, Sen. Mullin Introduce Legislation to Protect 2nd Amendment Rights of Native Americans
Navajo Nation Mourns Loss of Former President Ben Shelly
Native American Church Chapter Sues Bank for Racial and Religious Discrimination
12 years of Native News
This month, we celebrate our 12th year of delivering Native News to readers throughout Indian Country and beyond. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation this month to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and to tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.
