A former Navajo Nation vice presidential candidate says he is seeking the tribal president's post.
The announcement Monday from Buu Van Nygren comes a month before the deadline for candidates to file. Nygren was presidential candidate Joe Shirley Jr.'s pick for vice president during the 2018 campaign. Current Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez eventually won the seat.
Nygren is from Red Mesa, Ariz., and is married to District 7 Arizona state Rep. Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren.
He's the first to publicly announce his run. The primary election is Aug. 2.
The top two vote-getters move on to the November general election.
More than a dozen people typically run for president of the Navajo Nation.
The tribe has the largest land mass of any Native American tribe in the U.S. and is second in population with about 400,000 tribal members.
Nez hasn't said whether he'll seek reelection.